


Let Us Love Like We Were Children

by DivinusQualia



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AU, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Family, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Falling In Love, Family Feels, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Gen, Kid Fic, Love, Love in All Forms, M/M, Neighbors, Sibling Love, Slow Build, Time Skips, baker!OMC, bully!Akashi, businessman!Hyuuga, businessman!Kiyoshi, computer programmer!Momoi, girl!Aomine, girl!Midorima, girl!Takao, idol!Kise, jealous!Kuroko, manager!OFC, mom!Aida, oblivious!Kagami, smart!Kise, stoner!Murasakibara, sweetheart!Kuroko, tomboy!Aomine, very very slow build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-03
Updated: 2014-01-02
Packaged: 2017-11-28 00:05:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/668014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DivinusQualia/pseuds/DivinusQualia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Momoi and Kiyoshi can't have children. They've tried, alot. They keep trying, they adopt. They separately pick completely different children. Shy, timid, quiet Kuroko whose parents died, and loud, expressive, brimming with false confidence and bravo Aomine whose teen mother left her at the hospital. Kagami, Takao, Murisakibara, Midorima and Kise live on their street. So does Akashi, who is a bully, who doesn't realize he's a bully. Murisakibara is Kuroko's best friend, Takao is still Midorima's best friend and Kise is a tag-along. Aomine is a tomboy, Kagami's best friend. Aomine hates his brothers boyfriend, at first. What now? Drabbles follow the Teikou team through life. </p>
<p>Hopefully, this story will be better than this summary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Noises of Children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, I'm new to AO3 so please leave comments so I can pull my crap togeter and write properly! :) Thank you.

Satsuki awoke under the heavy arm of her husband. His soft, even breathing mingled with the birds chirping outside their bedroom window was soothing. She lay enjoying the comforting noises of silence. She shifted closer and accidentally jolted Teppei out of his dreams. He opened his eyes briefly and simply pulled her closer until she was laying almost ontop of him. He tangled his large hands in her pink hair with a soft smile and he seemed ready to go back to sleep, but Satsuki was already awake. She slipped down his body, displacing the sheets. Teppei made a noise of discomfort as cool air hit his sleep warmed skin but it quickly become a noise of interest as Momoi wrapped her slender fingers around his cock under his boxers. She tugged it to full hardness before looking up at her suddenly awake husband playfully. His mouth was hanging open and dry but beneath the sleepy blur in his eyes were edges of want and need, sharpening by the second. His large hands grasped the back of her head and slowly moved it down and Satsuki willingly complied. She wet her lips and let her saliva collect and drip onto the head of Teppei's cock before kissing the sensitive slit leaking precum. Teppei's head snapped back as he let out a groan while Satsuki tried to fit his proportionally correct dick in her dainty mouth. She bobbed on the head while her hands moved up and down his pulsing length until Teppei began pulling her off.

"Oh, god. I want to cum inside you. Come on, come on, I'm so close!" He growled and Satsuki pulled her lacy, peach silk nightie over head in one fluid motion to reveal her full breasts while Teppei's giant, usually gentle hands literally ripped her panties off. Satsuki paused for a moment to remind herself to scold him later, those were silk, before straddling Teppei's waist. His hands covered her breasts, their firm weight heavy in his hands and he tweaked her nipples just enough for her to cry out. Teppei smirked and pulled her forward to press a kiss to the abused, sensitive flesh. Now Satsuki groaned.

"Teppei, Teppei, I thought you were close. Come on!" Teppei chuckled, his face gleeful and simple like it was in highschool, before kissing her again. 

"Always so impatient. Need more data, 'Suki?" Satsuki swears she would have glared at him for mocking her but he choose that instant to lift her up and drop her onto his thrusting hips. Immediately, Satsuki's knees clenched to hold onto Teppei's larger, bucking body and her hand gripped his pectorals. She felt him shifted beneath her, still thrusting into her, but now sitting up. He licked and sucked and nipped at the tender peaks of her nipples before tracing a line up her neck to kiss her. He freed a hand from her hip and tucked it between them, rubbing her sensitive clit while he breathed into her hair.

"Come on, cum for me, come on Satsuki..." With a breathless half scream Satsuki did just that while Teppei continued to bury himself inside her. Satsuki took a moment to both praise and curse his athletes stamina as she felt herself already building up to another orgasm. She came once more before she could feel the slightest tremor in Teppei's thigh, feel him losing his rhythm as his hips started to stutter. He cradled her to his chest in the middle of his climax with his lips on top of her head and her name exhaled on the last, sweet note of his cry.

They rested for a moment, breathing in their combined scent, relishing each others sweat slicked, sticky skin and trying to catch their breath. Teppei leaned back, still holding Satsuki to his chest with her pink hair splayed over both of them.

"Satsuki, I love you. I wish I could give you everything you want. Everything you deserve." One ear was pressed to his chest but she still heard him. Satsuki sighs and snuggles closer to his warm body, her actions responding to his words. Her arms enclosing him, her breath across this shoulder, they screamed for Teppei 'This is everything I need.' After soaking in the moment and each other body heat, Teppei escapes her arms with a quick, playful kiss on the nose to shower before work. She can hear the summer heat calling to all the children in the neighborhood being released as their parents left for work. Satsuki turns to the window as the shower begins to run and now she realizes something was missing from the soothing sounds of the morning. The noises of children.


	2. The Unannounced Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teppei resolves to never trust diminutive women again. Satsuki is bundle of nerves. This interviewer is a sadist.

The interview room had cream walls and blue carpet. The window behind the interviewer desk had half opened blinds, and in the parking lot outside Teppei could see another couple checking and rechecking their outfits. As he watched the woman straighten her skirt and the man tighten his cuff links, Satsuki nervously adjusted Teppei's tie for the third time since they stepped into the adoption agency office 5 minutes ago. Teppei knew because he had been nervously checking his watch when he wasn't nervously staring off into the distance. Satsuki had done her best to make them look perfect, her pink hair flowed down her back but was pinned away from her face with pearled clips that matched his cuff links. And his navy suit with the black tie matched her navy black polka dotted vintage dress. And she looked like she was about to hyperventilate. Teppei rested a comforting hand on his wife's knee, praying she couldn't tell his own heart was pounding in anticipation. He gave her knee a reassuring squeeze just as their interviewer walked in. They both bolted to stand and the interviewer smiled pleasantly.

"Welcome to the 'Home is Where A Heart Is' Adoption Center. My name is Ms. Zakai Haru, I will be your interviewer, and if you pass, you will become my clients." Satsuki nodded gratefully and grasped Teppei's hand.

"Thank you for allowing us this opportunity. We will no doubt become your clients!" Teppei reassuringly brushed the back of her hand with his thumb and smiled at the interviewer who was taking her seat at the desk. She set her heavy binder down and flipped it open. Teppei saw his own headshot and one of Satsuki, forms and files on the both of them, and a thick empty notebook. Ms. Zakai seemed to create a pen from thin air and sat with her hand poised to write. She smiled at them again and Teppei believed he saw a flash of aggression in her eyes.

"Well then, tell me about your family."

Satsuki was literally on the edge of her seat. They had been there for what seemed like hours but had only been 27 minutes Teppei's watch swore, being grilled by an aggressive little woman. Her diminutive size was a trap. Teppei can tell Satsuki is grinding her teeth. The woman smiles again. "And what do you do, Mr. Kiyoshi?" Teppei tries his boyish charm on her and answers with a wide smile, "I'm a businessman, an accountant. I work downtown in the main bank office." She nods, writes something down, and turns to Satsuki. "And Mrs. Kiyoshi?" Satsuki apparently picked up his cue, because she straightens in her chair and smiles. "I'm a computer programmer." The interviewer makes a little note. "If you're both working, who will take care of any children you hope to adopt?" Satsuki jumps at the question. "I work from home. I can watch my-I mean the children, all day. And if there was an emergency, my friend, Aida, lives 4 houses down and is a professional stay-at-home mom." She gives a hopeful smile but the interviewer simply makes another note. "And since we were on the topic of friends, are any of you friends past criminals? Potentially future criminals?"

Satsuki looks tired and stressed and Teppei realizes he probably looks the same. The interview was painfully through, from simple obvious questions about their relationship and probing question like 'Are you involved in any suspicious activities or organizations?' Teppei was baffled at how they were supposed to answer that but Satsuki was the quick one and had managed to answer with "We're only involved in a group for families hoping to adopt and our neighborhood watch." As usual, there was no comment just the scratch of pen on paper. After 1 hour and 37 minutes, the woman finally seemed to relax.  
"How will you be choosing children?" Satsuki opened her mouth, but Teppei answered first.  
"Well, don't you have a folder with children and their profiles? We would each pick a child we think we could serious offer a true family lifestyle. Children that really need _us_ , not just any parent." Satsuki sunk back into her seat, and Teppei could feel her glowing with approval. The woman smiled again, a real one, and Teppei assumed they had passed some sort of test.


	3. Home Sweet Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ms. Zakai isn't finished with Satsuki and Teppei yet. Frantic house cleaning commences. Riko and Junpei bring Kazunari over to impress.

Three days after the initial interview, at 10am on a Saturday, the doorbell rings.

Teppei answers the door in his pyjamas, his favorite ones with little polar bears dancing on a red backgroud, a hand over his mouth to stifle a yawn. He opens the door wide enough that Satsuki, in matching pyjamas, can be seen dancing horribly to the radio as she flips pancakes. His eyes are basically closed when the visitor speaks.  
"Mr. Kiyoshi. I'm here for the second part of our interview. The surprise house visit." Teppei slams the door in her face. The resonating bang alerts Satsuki and she looks up to see Teppei hyperventilating behind the door.  
"Teppei, who was it?" Teppei just makes frantic hand motions and runs into their bedroom. Satsuki assumes it's safe to open the door, considering he didnt try to take her with him, and does exactly that. As the door opens and she catches a glimpse of a thick notebook, she already knows who it is, and while she wishes to slam the door again and hide in the bedroom with Teppei, she has to be the adult in the relationship. She curses her maturity and is smiling by the time she makes eye contact.  
"Ah, Ms. Zakai, you frightened Teppei. He didn't expect you so early." Ms. Zakai gives a tight smile.  
"Oh? You weren't to expect me at all." Satsuki seriously considers slamming the door on this uptight woman but remembers her barren ovaries and settles for making her feel silly.  
"But the contract we signed said if we were seriously considered, we should expect a surprise visit anywhere from 2 to 6 days after our initial interview." She could sense the woman's grudging respect at her through reading of the fine print, but Satsuki was a professional data collector. She stepped back from the door and invited Ms. Zakai inside.   
"Please, wait in here. Teppei has gone to change into something more suitable, as will I. Before I go, would you like something to drink?" Ms. Zakai shook her head and took a cautious seat on the black suede couch. Satsuki smiled, slipped into the kitchen to turn off the stove, and rushed into her bedroom. When she opened the door, she found Teppei curled up on the bed. He looked up at her, almost like he did in high school when he needed her to get a teacher off his back over missing homework, and whispered.  
"Did you banish the demon?" Satasuki rolled her eyes and smacked him in the head.  
"No! She's in our living room, waiting on us to change. Now hurry!" She strode purposefully to their walk-in closet and threw 3 shirts at Teppei.  
"Pick one." Teppei grabbed the green shirt and slipped it over head after he removed his button up pyjama shirt. Satsuki threw a pair of khaki shorts at him, then strted to remove her pyjamas. Once Teppei was dressed he nervously watched his wife.  
"Is our house clean enough?" Satsuki threw him a death glare.  
"Is it not clean enough for you?" Teppei twisted his hands as Satsuki pulled a pale yellow sundress over her body.  
"Of course! It's just... Did you know she was coming?" Satsuki rolled her eyes and Teppei answered his own question. "Of course you did, you're a data collecting doll. That's why I love you."

Once dressed they return to Ms. Zakai, Teppei twitching every so often.  Ms. Zakai had monopolized the sofa with her importance rather than her size so Teppei and Satsuki shared the loveseat.   
"Ah, Ms. Zakai. It's a pleasure to have you here." Ms. Zakai gives her signature tightlipped smile.   
"Thank you. Actually, while I was outside, I met the sweetest child. I've asked her and her parents over as... Character witnesses. They should be here shortly." Satsuki can feel Teppei's nervousness radiating off of him so she smiles at Ms. Zakai.   
"Would this child be Kazunari? She's my best friends daughter." Ms. Zakai nods.   
"Yes. Little Kazunari Hyuuga. But until they get here, would you mind giving me a tour. I have to ensure your children have room here." Satsuki is thankful that's all it is-until she remembers the paint pails and ladders and renovation equipment cluttered in the children's rooms. She manages to hold her smile.   
"Of course! Let me show you the backyard first. It's spacious and perfect for children." Ms. Zakai stands and Satsuki leads her towards the back of the house. Teppei tries to follow them but Satsuki glares and hisses at him.   
"Teppei! Go clean upstairs!" Teppei looks bewildered for a second before realizing what he's to do. He excuses himself and heads up the stairs. He grabs the ladders and runs them to the garage, collects the scattered tools and stores them in the closet. Most of the paint buckets have been hidden when he hears Satsuki's voice at the bottom of the stairs.   
"Our bedroom is downstairs but there are 2 bedrooms and a bathroom for the children." Teppei scrambles and shoves the last few pails of pink in the linen closet just as Ms. Zakai's head appears. Teppei leans on the closet door and Satsuki opens the closest bedroom door. Ms. Zakai sniffs.   
"It's very... Blank." Teppei opens the second bedroom door to reveal a white walls and a hardwood floor identical to the first.   
"Yeah. We thought our children could decorate their own rooms, so they could be comfortable here." Satsuki walks over and opens the bathroom door between them to show a white tile and silver features bathroom.   
"They'll have to compromise on the bathroom design though. So they can get into the feel of having a sibling." Ms. Zakai looks impressed, but her face evens out when the doorbell rings.   
"Ah. The Hyuuga's."

Teppei takes Ms. Zakai to settle in the living room as Satsuki opens the door. Kazunari slips past her and Riko gives her a hug, Junpei too. They leave Kazunari to her imagination and walk into the living room where Ms. Zakai has once again monopolized the sofa, leaving Satsuki and Riko to share the loveseat with Junpei and Teppei standing at the ends. Ms. Zakai opens her thick notebook to a blank page.  
"Mr. and Mrs. Hyuuga-" Riko jumps in with a bright smile.  
"Please, call me Riko. And my husband is Junpei." Ms. Zakai gives a subtle glare and scribbles in her notebook.  
"Mrs. Hyuug, how long have you know the Kiyoshi's?" Riko's color drained from her face and Junpei's hand tightened on her shoulder. Teppei groaned internally. He knew this was going to be the most stressful experience of their lives. Ms. Zakai battered them all with questions of emotional and mental and financial stability peppered with straightforward question about involvement in suspicious activities while they all listened to Kazunari let herself in and out of the house to play in the backyard. Suddenly, it was too quiet and Junpei jumped up.  
"Where's Kazunari?" And because Teppei knew his life was the biggest comsic comedy, there was a well timed yelp and crash from upstairs. The adults rushed to the bottom of the stairs, even Ms. Zakai left her notebook, to find Kazunari standing at the top of the stairs with the pink paint Teppei had hoped to paint her future daughter's room with dripping off her nose and her little fingers. Her eyes were wide but her smile was wider as she happily announced to the gathering.  
"Look! I've dyed my hair pink like Auntie Suki!" Satsuki wilted as Ms. Zakai raised and eyebrow and tutted.Teppei doubted she was upset because Kazunari thought she dyed her hair.

Junpei had darted up the stairs and grabbed his only child, smearing pink paint all over his white shirt.. Riko had apologized profusely and they had deparyted quickly with mumbled explanations of having to bathe their daughter andapoplogetic eyes. Only a few minutes later, Ms. Zakai picked up her notebook and pulled her shoes on. She had an unreadable expression on her face and when she left she didn't even give a tightlipped smile. All she could do was stand on their front step and appraise them with her eyes.  
"I have seen all I needed to." Then she had turned and walked away.


	4. Think of The Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The folder of children is thicker than they thought it would be. But all Teppei wants is a sweet little girl to call him 'Daddy'. And Satsuki wants is a confident boy to raise into a gentleman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so i don't know how adoption works so this is probably really fast but whatever. :P

Satsuki's palms were sweaty. The woman from their interview had called them a week later, announcing their accepted status, and inviting them to come in to go over the files of children they could meet, despite their less than perfect house visit. And by less than perfect, Satsuki meant absolutely disastrous. After Ms. Zakai had left, Teppei had crawled back into bed and cried over his chances. Riko had marched an apologetic Kazunari back to their house, where Kazunari explained how her 'Mama told me you won't get a baby because I messed up your house' and that she was very sorry. Teppei finally stopped crying when Kazunari patted him on the head and promised to be his adopted daughter if he never got his own, even if  she would 'have to love Daddy more because he's Daddy.' but if he did get her, she would be her friend. Junpei had arrived later with lunch and they had managed to calm down and even get most of the paint  cleaned up. Satsuki was overjoyed the agency was still even considering them and she had once again dressed Teppei to compliment her, this time more casually, they both wore dark blue jeans and Teppei wore a light blue dress shirt with no tie and Satsuki wore a babydoll dress with white polka dots. Teppei had snorted as he buttoned up his shirt after his shower.  
"What's with all the polka dots?" Satsuki had glared at him, whole-heartedly questioning her marriage while she pulled her shirt over her head on the other side of their bed.  
"Polka dots are sweet and innocent. Child friendly. I'm showing I would be a great mom. And you will make an okay dad because you were good enough for me to marry." She held her glare even as Teppei held his hands up in mock surrender and smiled his childish grin.  
"Alright, calm down there, supermom." They finished getting dressed after Satsuki threw his still damp towel at his head.

At the agency, Ms. Zakai greeted them at the door with a real smile. She guided them into her office and waited for them to sit down.  
"Mr. Kiyoshi, Mrs. Kiyoshi! Welcome to the exciting part of the adoption process! We have several children who are in need of parents for you to consider." She smiled again as she stood to pull a thick file out of her filing cabinet. Teppei cautiously raised his hand, still searching for Ms. Zakai's twisted aggression.  
"Ah, Ms. Zakai, we were looking for children around 6 to 7. So they can play with the other children on our street." Ms. Zakai smiled again.  
"Like that precious little Kazunari? Of course!" She put the thick file away and reached for one of the exact same size. Satsuki watched her check the file was correct, then as she laid it on the table, Satsuki spoke.  
"Ms. Zakai, after our... less than satisfactory house visit, why are we still considered?" MS. Zakai laughed. Loudly. Satsuki was alarmed by it's volume and intensity. Teppei was surprised to note it didn't summon demons.  
"Ah, Mrs. Kiyoshi, your vist was far better than satisfactory! It proved your worth as humans, it proved how much effort you two had put into giving any children you chose love. It proved how much you cared. And that is all I needed to know." She still had a slight smile on her face as she pushed the envelope towards them. "So, go ahead. You've earned this." Satsuki timidly reached for the file before drawing her hand back, Teppei grasped her hand and brought it to the file. MS. Zakai smiled again as their intertwined fingers. "I'll give you some time. I'll be out in the lobby if you need me."  
Teppei was pleased to find the file had 2 smaller files inside, seperated by gender. He hands the boy file over to Satsuki, and as she takes it with trembling fingers, he pulls her in close.  
"You've earned this. I will always love you. And I will love the child you pick for us. No matter what, we will have our family." Satsuki was too strong to whimper, but she couldn't stop the tear that rolled down her cheek. Teppei kissed it away and stared into his beloved wife's pink eyes for another moment. "Satsuki KIyoshi, I love you. Choose our son for me to love as much as I love you." Satsuki nodded and pressed her lips to his for a second before pulling away. Her voice shook when she spoke as she dragged her chair to the other side of the room.  
"No peeking, Teppei." Once she was settled, she looked up to find him still watching her. "I love you Teppei. I will love our daughter too." She waited for his childish smile she treasured to brighten his face before dropping her head and opening the file. Across the room, she could hear Teppei opening his. 

Teppei has gone through god knows how many files of little girls with big sad eyes in need of loving parents. All the files proclaimed them to be sweet, innocent children whose parents had befallen some tragedy and had no family members who could or would take them. Their files had their behaviour characteristics, all the same, all perfect and needing and no emotional problems, no red flags, no red tape. They all looked the same, big brown eyes and straight black hair, Teppei could feel himself drowning in the sea of potential daughters. He almost threw the file in the air and announced he wanted to take them all home. As he flipped through the top of the individual files, where the headshots of depressed 6 year olds stared him down, he stopped at a picture of a scowling little girl with dark blue hair and tanned skin. He flipped open her file to find more pictures, all with the same guarded, angry face. Several small note fall out onto his lap, all in different handwriting, obviously written by different therapists. Teppei picks up the one that landed on his left knee.  _Daiki needs to open up to others. Otherwise she is fine._  The next one reads:  _Daiki is an intelligent child, she never shows it because she has trust issues._ Teppei picks up another.  _Daiki Aomine could be classified as gifted. She excells at most challenges. She still refuses to talk about her feelings._ The last one he picks up is obviously written by a child and hidden.  _The baka ~~thara~~   ~~therapiste~~ therapist needs to leave me alone. I do not need to smile more._  Teppei stares at it for a moment longer before collecting the dropped notes. He pulls the _Aomine, Daiki_ file out and places the rest on the table. WHen he flips it open, the first thing he sees is red. Red pen. Red flags. Actual _red tape_. Daiki... Daiki... _Age 6. Half Japanese. Half ?. Intelligent. Stubborn. Arrogant. NO talk of feelings. Bullies all children. Fights with older children. Possible self harm. Been at orphanage since birth. Abandoned._ The last word hits Teppei hard. _Abandoned. **Abandoned.**_  Teppei knows the pain of not knowing your parents, but his had no choice. And at least he had his grandmother to take him in. But this little girl... abandoned. 6 years old and alone. And abandoned. Abandoned. Teppei closes her file for a second, and when he reopens it, he stares hard at her picture. Tiny arms crossed over a proud chest and long blue hair falling around her shoulders in dirty clumps. A almost cute sneer on her face and blue eyes narrowed, she was already against the world. At 6. 6! Teppei looks through al the accompanying pictures, all almost identical and in each one he sees the defiance in her eyes. But he sees all these behavioural blimps as what they are, defense mechanisms. And in all these photos of a rough, unkempt little girl Teppei saw a girl who needed love. Who needed to be held and never released. Who needed someone to see the pain and abandonment in her eyes and accept it. Who needed soimeone will her in her battle against the world. In those pictures, Teppei saw his daughter.

Teppei makes a little gasp when he drops some papers all over the floor. Satsuki knows he didn't notice but her ears are attuned to him. And that attunement drew her attention away from the sweetest little boy she found among the files. Fumio Kasuse. _Age 7. Japanese. Kind and caring. Enjoys arts. Smart. Energetic. Copes with emotions well. Orphaned at 4. Both parents-car accident. NO relatives._  Satsuki grinned at the pictures of the smiling little boy, prasing his adjustment and hoping to be a good mother to him when a photo slipped out of the stack of files she held. She stooped to grab it and came face to face with an unsmiling boy with light blue hair and almost transluscent blue eyes. She flipped the photo over.  _Kuroko, Tetsuya._ She flipped through the files until she found his name. SHe was about to slip the photo in and return to Fumio's file when the photo slipped out of the file again. Satsuki grabs the picture off the floor again, and then by chance turns it over. Once again it says _Kuroko, Tetsuya_. BUt this time it's  _different handwriting._ Satsuki quickly flips the photo over to find one identical to the first. She calms herself by realizing they're duplicates, until she takes a closer look at the time stamp. To satisfy her curiousity and tame her nerves, she fishes another picture out. Once again, Tetsuya looks the same, but the  _time stamps are different._ Satsuki holds back a scream of terror as she realizes they are dated  _almost a year apart._ Satsuki all but throws the pictures and the file across the room. She's seen that 'Orphan' movie. She's going to get her little boy and he _will not be Tetsuya Kuroko._  With his dead fish eyes and pale face. What 6 year old looks like that? Satsuki returns to sweet little Fumio's file but her mind keeps spinnin and rtefreshing the image of Tetsuya in her head, and finally she gives in and picks up his file with a sigh. Kuroko Tetsuya.  _Age 6. Quiet. Kind. Sweetheart. Caring and helpful. Easily lost. Timid and shy. Orphaned at 3. Father-attacked. Mother-suicide. Relatives refused option to adopt._ She muses over his therapist notes and wonders how a 6 year old could ever possibly display  _'no motivation'_ and ' _lack of interest'_ and even ' _depression'_. Satsuki's pink eyes wandered back over to Fumio's file. She snapped Tetsuya's file shut and silently mourned for any chance Fumio had at being her son. She had decided from 2 identical pictures and a depressingly sparse file on Tetsuya. On Tetsuya. Satsuki could feel her heart thumping in her chest. She was going to get her little boy. He wasn't going to perfect, but by god, he was going to be loved. 


	5. Almost Home Orphanage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Satsuki and Teppei finally met their children. Their children hate each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that took alot longer than i thought it would... :( sorry! but here's Satsuki's pretty dress: http://www.modcloth.com/shop/dresses/great-scottsdale-dress

Teppei had looked up when Satsuki snapped Tetsuya's file. He already had his choosen file in hand and a hopeful smile gracing his features. "Are you ready?" Satsuki threw one last look at Fumio's file before her hand resolutely tightened on Tetsuya's. "Ready." Teppei left his file on the table, with a mocking threat of 'not to look' before leaving to call for Ms. Zakai. Satsuki went through Kuroko's file again. His 2 pictures, his barely there information, his strange therapy notes. Satsuki was going to love this little boy, and make him, no, let him be a great man. Teppei rushes back into the room ahead of Ms. Zakai and Satsuki has to resist the urge to laugh, he's still afraid of her. Ms. Zakai picks up Teppei's file and when Satsuki has replaced her chair to it's original place, she hands over hers as well. Ms. Zakai smiles and is about to hand them the other's file to see who their partner has selected but Teppei stops her, and gives Satsuki a sidelong glance.  
"N-no. I want it to be a surprise!" Ms. Zakai raises an eyebrow but waits for Satsuki to answer. Satsuki looks at Teppei's face, he looks excited to have her meet his little girl in person and not by reading about her beforehand, and Satsuki cannot deny the man she loves. She shrugs.  
"It's okay. But Teppei doesn't get to see mine either." Ms. Zakai chuckles under her breath and opens the files one by one, when she closes them, she had a worried furrow in her brow.  
"Are you sure you want to surprise your spouse? These children are... very different." Teppei snakes his hand over to grasp Satsuki's.  
"It doesn't matter. We will love them, and we will be a family." He grins at Ms. Zakai who actually grins back.  
"Alright then..." She tucks the 2 files into a larger folder labelled 'KIYOSHI' and files it away until their next visit. When she turns back to them, it's with a even wider smile. "Congratulations on selecting your possible children! THis is the hardest part for most couples because they often want to take all of the children, but you have narrowed it down. I have to contact the orphanages of the children, and as soon as it's possible, we can go and meet them!" She comes around the desk as Satsuki and Teppei stand and Teppei extends his hand, when Ms. Zakai pulls him in for a hug. She releases him and hugs Satsuki. The hug is tight but not uncomfortable, and Ms. Zakai has the fragrance of lavender wafting off of her. "Once again, congrats on almost completing your adoption process!" She leads them to the door and is obviously excited for them, when Teppei and Satsuki are just walking out of the lobby and through the doors, the turn to see Ms. Zakai waving at them.  
When Teppei gets home on Tuesday evening, the answering machine is blinking steadily in the dusk seen through the windows. He loosens his tie and hangs his jacket over the back of a chair in the kitchen. "'Suki! Satsuki!" When he gets no reply, he wanders into her office to find her typing quickly, the outline her head illuinated from the brightness of her computer screen. On her pink head was a pair of headphones as script ran across the screen. Teppei duck and rested his chin on top of her head. Whe she grunts in welcome he smirks and kisses the top of her head, pulling the headphones off. "Satsuki, I think Ms. Zakai called..." Satsuki perks up, jolting Teppei's chin and he rubs it as they walk back to the kitchen together. Satsuki presses play and Ms. Zakai's voice rings out happier than Teppei thinks he's ever heard it.  
"Mr. and Mrs. Kiyoshi! I have set several potential dates for you to meet your possible children. They happen to be placed at the same orphanage, so that makes it easier. The 'Almost Home' Orphanage has agreed to let you visit either this Thursday at 5, Saturday at 1, or Monday at 5. Please call me back and let me know. Thank you!" Satsuki sunk into Teppei arms as the answering beeped. He face was shoved into his chest but he could feel her smile through his shirt and he could definetly hear her when she spoke.  
"Teppei. Teppei, we're getting our children."

Satsuki had phoned back and asked Ms. Zakai to confirm an appointment at the orphanage for Saturday and when the sun rose that morning, Satsuki leapt out of bed. Teppei covered his head with the sheets and begs her to close the window. With a mocking whine Satsuki pulls he sheet away.   
"No! Today we meet our family! Our family! Teppei, Teppei, aren't you excited?" Teppei grumbles and tries to keep himself sleep-warmed with husbands and body heat. He yawns.   
"I'm super excited. But not half mad. So I'm not waking up at..." He glances at the bedside clock with a groan. "7 am Satsuki? Really? For a 1pm appointment half an hour away?" Satsuki sniffs and throws the sheet back.  
"I need to pick something to wear." Teppei happily wraps himself in his sheet again and grins sleepily at Satsuki.  
"Oh. Of course you do. Pick me something that doesn't match what you're going to wear and wake me at 10..." Satsuki rolls her eyes as she treks into their closet with a mission. Three hours later, Teppei is woken by a bundle thrown straight at his head. He lifts his head and glares through sleep blurred eyes at Satsuki on the other side of the room.  
"Euuuugh..." He collapses back into his bed, only to be hit with another bundle. "Satsuki! What are you even throwing at me?" Satsuki raised an eyebrow.  
"They're your clothes. Get dressed. It's already 10:30." Teppei groaned and yawned loudly to show his displeasure but still rolled out of bed. He stood, stretched and stared at Satsuki for a moment.  
"'Suki... What are you wearing?" Satsuki sniffed and smoothed nonexistent wrinkles from her navy blue hem of her blue dress.  
"It's the 'Great Scottsdale' dress I ordered from modcloth. Isn't it pretty?" Teppei did want to agree it was pretty, especially on his tiny pinkette wife, but it was too perfect. And most likely to be permanently ruined at an orphanage. Teppei opened his mouth and Satsuki stared at him.  
"Yeah. You just, you just looked so pretty." Satsuki smiled and twirled around, sending the skirt swirling around above her knees.  
"Thank you. Now get dressed. We still have to eat breakfast." Teppei groaned when he saw the navy slacks and blue tie that matched Satsuki's dress.  
"I swear you get these things custom made to irritate me..." Teppei swears he hears evil laughter resonating from the kitchen.   
  
When they arrive at the orphanage, Ms. Zakai is waiting for them with the manager. She smiles warmly at them and quickly ushers them through the gate, where several boys and girls all under 10 run freely.  
"Mr. And Mrs. Kiyoshi! You're early. Eager to meet the children?" Satsuki assures her she's right and Teppei merely smiles. "Ah, Mr. And Mrs. Kiyoshi, please meet Mr. Hajime Hale. He runs the orphanage with his wife, Akia." The broad shouldered, tall-not Teppei tall-man shakes each of their hands with a friendly grin just as a heavily pregnant woman runs over.  
"Pleased to meet you. Please call me Hajime." Teppei gives a firm hanshake.  
"Teppei." He encourages Satsuki forward and she shakes his hand too.  
"Satsuki." The pregnant woman gives them a wide smile and pulls them both inti a hug.  
"Hi! I'm Akia! Nice to meet you both." She released them and suddenly her eyes are on a pair of fighting boys. "Boys! No! We have guests!" she turns to them apologetically before waddling off. "Boys!" Hajime affectionately watches his wife berate the 2 boys and send them to timeout before turning back to Teppei and Satsuki.  
"She's the best and worst thing to happen to the orphans here." he jokes as he guides them through the open playground littered with toys. "But you're here for your 2 kids! Let's get them..." Ms. Zakai hands him a folder and his friendly smile stays plastered to his face while his eyebrows waggle. "Oh... Okay. Well, Daiki is in timeout. So we can find her... Tetsu is the real problem... He's almost invisible!" He excuses himself and through the office window Teppei and Satsuki can see him talking to Akia. She turns to the nearest child and asks them a question as Hajime disappears. Ms. Zakai leaned in the doorway.  
"This orphanage has been in Hajime's family for decades. He and Akia have really managed it well, she's pregnant now, but they've been trying for years. That's why they like to make other couples happy. They know what it's like." They watch as Hajime reappears in the window leading a sullen faced little girl towards them. Ms. Zakai straightens. "Ah, they've found Daiki." Teppei and Satsuki shift towards the door just as Daiki is lead in. Hajime gives them a bright smile that does nothing to soften Daiki's dark scowl.  
"Mr. And Mrs. Kiyoshi, this is Daiki Aomine." Daiki shrugs and gives a half wave. Her navy hair has grown since her file photo and it hangs waist level but the ends have been clipped and it's smooth and silky. Her blue eyes peek out from heavy bangs and she crosses her arms. She wears boys clothes and sneakers, and Satsuki had expected to be crying over her new possible daughter, but all she wanted to do was grab her and run far away from her hardships and hug her to death. Teppei found his voice first.  
"Hello, Aomine-chan. It's nice to meet you." Daiki glared at him and plopped down onto the nearest seat, becoming very interested in her lap. Teppei was about to suggest... He's not sure exactly what but the silence was stretching to infinity and becoming increasingly awkward when Akia smiled through the door.  
"Hi, new parents! We've found your second!" She reached behind herself and a little pale blue head peeked out. Tetsuya Kuroko was actually smaller in person and when he stepped out from behind Akia he was dressed in a white polo shirt, shorts,  and sneakers. Teppei was amazed and impressed a 6 year old could be so neat. Satsuki spoke first this time.  
"Hello, Kuroko-kun. I'm Satsuki Kiyoshi, nice to meet you." Tetsuya's expression doesn't change but he replies, so Satsuki counts it as a success.  
"Mrs. Kiyoshi, Mr. Kiyoshi, It's a pleasure to meet you." He half bows and takes the seat next to Daiki, who flips her hair and glares.  
"Nice clothes, loser. When did you get left here?" Tetsuya turns his blank stare on Daiki and waits until her discomfort shows on her face.  
"I have been here since I was 4." Daiki recovers her composure and smirks again.  
"So you've been here a  few months?" Tetsuya holds his dead eyed stare.  
"I am 7." Daiki jumps up from her seat.  
"You've been escaping me for 3 years? No more!" Then she jumps on Tetsuya with her tiny fists flying. Teppei groans.


	6. Meet the Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ms. Zakai worries. Satsuki and Daiki are awkward. Teppei and Tetsuya are much better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm trying to get back into my groove, i've got chapters planned but no idea when they'll get finished. five day weekend starts today so hopefully i can push 2 good chapters out. :) please continue to leave comments/critisim! thank you.

Satsuki can only watch in horror and shock as Hajime pulls a thrashing Daiki off the oddly silent Tetsuya. Ms. Zakai quickly pulls hem out of the room, but through the door Satsuki can hear Hajime begging Daiki to calm down and shouting at her that she's gotten a million timeouts. There's the sudden sound of a brief scuffle, and then a red-faced Hajime exits with one hand clamped on Daiki's thin shoulder and the beginnings of a bruise on his cheek. Daiki looks quite pleased with herself. Hajime grits his teeth and forces a smile.  
"Daiki has something she'd like to say." His hand momentarily tightens on her shoulder when Daiki stares at them blankly, before clenching her jaw and hissing from between her teeth.  
"I'm sorry I... attacked the idi-Kuro-my brother. Please forgive me." Daiki makes a weak half bow and Hajime gives a small nod and begins to pull away to send Daiki for her timeout when Satsuki stops him.  
"Hajime, if-maybe-may I... May I speak to Daiki?" Ms. Zakai looks interested in this development, but her direct look at Hajime gives him the final authority on the decision. Daiki has the good sense to only glower at the floor as Hajime kneels in front of her and grasps both shoulders.  
"Mrs. Kiyoshi is going to talk to you. You are still going to be held accountable for your actions." Daiki gives the smallest of nods and Hajime stands. "Satsuki, let me find you a private room." He's about to wlk away when Teppei very subtly clears his throat and Hajime turns quickly. "Ah, Teppei, would you like to comfort Tetsuya?" Teppei doesn't hesitate as he glances towards the closed office door.  
"Yes,please of course. Thank you." Hajime gives a more natural smile.  
"Okay, let me settle Satsuki and Daiki in the other room, I'll be right back. Ms. Zakai and Teppei watched them disappear down the hall, then Ms. Zakai turns her intense stare on Teppei.  
"The children... They aren't meshing, um, well, they aren't meshing at all. Do either of you have second choices? Perhaps...?" Teppei can understand her view, but he restrains himself enough to reply civilly.  
"No, not yet, they aren't. But they're who we want and they're who need us, so we're going to make it work. We're going to make a family." Ms. Zakai seems impressed and slightly less worried when they see Hajime returning.

Satsuki sits beside Daiki on a little wooden bench that makes it fee like her knees are up near her ears. And they haven't been up there since... Satsuki sighs and Daiki glares at her. Ouch. Did Teppei know he had picked a glaring,  arrogant baby girl? Satsuki slid off the bench and crossed her legs on the floor. Several beats passed and Daiki finally uncrossed her arms. Satsuki assumed this meant she was open to talking.  
"So, Daiki... You have lovely hair. When I was little I always wanted long hair." Daiki swished her hair over her shoulder and suddenly pulls it up and out of her face and into a messy bun.  
"I hate it. Ms. Akia won't let me cut it because everyone wants a little girl with long hair. I'm going to cut it all off. They won't let me use sissors." She crossed her arms again and glares down at Satsuki. Satsuki gulps.  
"So, um, do you like-uh, what do you like?" Daiki shifts in her seat.  
"I like soccer. I'm really good." Satsuki smiles.  
"I'll bet you are. What position do you play?" Daiki narrows her eyes.  
"I play all the positions. No one is good enough to be on my team. The only one who can beat me is me." It's Satsuki's turn to squirm on the floor.  
"Oh, that's... Nice. Do you like anything else?" Daiki's eyes darken.  
"I like to win, and I like to be left alone. If you adopt me, will you try to control me?" Satsuki stays silent on the floor.

Tetsuya looks blankly at Teppei as he sits on the other side of the table. Teppei's hands are sweating like the day he got married and thought Satsuki was just going to laugh in his face and leave him at the altar. They sit in silence for a little longer, Tetsuya holdng a bag of ice to his bruised cheek. Teppei looks out the window for so long he swears he can see the dust motes sitting on the blinds, when Tetsuya talks.  
"I'm okay. Aomine-san is just very aggressive. She will make a good dughter, eventually." Teppei stares at Tetsuya.  
"Are you truely 7? When I was 7, I didn't know what 'aggressive' or 'eventually' meant." Tetsuya gives a tiny smile and quietly recites.  
"I am 7. I like vanilla flovored drinks and candies. I like to read and expand my vocabulary. I enjoy being quiet. I've been told I am kind, generous, and easily lost." Teppei smiles widely.   
"Did you realize we have the same initials? I'm Teppei Kiyoshi and you are Tetsuya Kuroko." Tetsuya's mouth twitches upward at the corners.  
"Are you sure you aren't 7, Mr. Kiyoshi?" Teppei grins.  
"Please, call me Teppei." Tetsuya shakes his head.  
"No, Mr. Kiyoshi, but please call me Tetsu." Teppei can feel a bond forming between him and his future son.  
"Alright, Tetsu, when we're out of here, I'l buy you a vanilla shake from Maji Burger."

After an hour, Ms. Zakai and Hajime tell Teppei and Satsuki in their seperate rooms that it's time to decide and file away the final documents. Satsuki crouches down and gives Daiki an awkward hug, they had been sitting in mostly silence, learning nothing about each other except that they were different from one another. Daiki is lead away for her delayed timeout and as Satsuki returns to the first office, she sees Teppei hold his fist up to Tetsuya. Tetsuya looks at it with confusion and Teppei sighs.  
"C'mon man, don't leave me hanging. It's a brofist. For friends." Tetsuya looks at it suspiciously for a moment but Teppei's puppy dog eyes work on everyone and Tetsuya hesitantly knocks his knuckles against Teppei's. "Yeah! Alright, see you later, Tetsu." Teppei drops to his knee and gives Tetsuya a hug. Tetsuya doesn't moe into the hug, but from where she is Satsuki can tell it was definetly less awkward than her's and Daiki's. Akia leads Tetsuya away and Ms. Zakai and Hajime usher them into the office. M. Zakai waits until they are seated before clearing her throat and Teppei interrupts.  
"We are definetly taking Tetsu. He's... the son I've always wanted." Ms. Zakai and Hajime look extremely pleased, and they all turn to Satsuki. She looks from Ms. Zakai's worried face, to Teppei's hopeful face, to Hajime's comforting face, back to Teppei's face. God, he's so hopeful, he wants Satsuki to fall in love with Daiki like he had fallen in love with Tetsuya. Satsuki hesitates for a second and she can already see Teppei's face falling.  
"I, we... We are also taking Daiki." Ms. Zakai straightens.  
"Mrs. Kiyoshi, are you sur-" Satsuki reaches for Teppei's hand and squeezes it once.  
"I'm sure. We're sure. We will get our family." Ms. Zakai and Hajime exchange a look that goes over eppei and Satsuki's heads, but they do produce paperwork and soon Teppei and Satsuki and Ms. Zakai and Hajime have signed sheets of paper and Akia has notarized them and they'll be mailed somewhere and in a week they will have their family.

After all the stress Satsuki doesn't believe it's over and says as much. Ms. Zakai smiles at her.  
"Satsuki-chan, it is only just beginning."


	7. White Walls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Satsuki and Teppei and Aomine and Tetsuya, oh my! Also, Riko wants a party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jfc, this took too long. i am so sorry.

Satsuki keeps wiping her sweaty palms on her baby blue and pastel pink dress, and they haven't even left the garage yet. Teppei feels his own nerves shaking as he watches her and reaches out to still her hands. They're cold, and clammy, and Satsuki's. He pressed his lips to her temple. 

"'Suki, you look so pretty today." Satsuki gives a grim smile.   
"Thanks. It's from modcloth." Teppei rolls his eyes.   
"I wasn't talking about the dress. But it's nice too. Start the car, we're gonna be late." Satsuki sighs and Teppei releases her hands. The Landrover HSE LUX rolls out of the garage.

Satsuki's managed to wreck her entire pedicure in 2 minutes as she waits at a stoplight just outside the orphanage. Teppei rolls his eyes.  
"Satsuki, calm down." Satsuki exhales.  
"But-" Teppei give half a groan.  
"Satsuki-"  
"What if they don't like their rooms? What if they hate us? What if-" Teppei thinks his eyes might fall out if he has to keep rolling them.  
"What if, they learn to love us while we learn to love them? What if, we end up with our family? What if, their rooms are fine?" The light turns green.

Unsurprisingly, Daiki and Testuya have 1 bag each. They are all the children have, and barely filling 1 small bag is all they own over years, and now they lay forlon in the empty trunk of the Landrover and Satsuki slams it shut. Teppei has Tetsuya's hand and Hajime has Daiki's shoulder. Akia hands them each a baggie of cookies and, as joyful as the other children are that their tormentor, Daiki, is leaving, they look sad as they hug her goodbye. They hug Tetsuya too, even though most claim they've never seen him before. Both Daiki and Tetsuya keep painfully still as the hugs are given and Teppei hands her Tetsuya's hand before taking a glaring Daiki's. Hajime wraps his wife up in his arms.  
"Congratulations!" Satsuki and Teppei thank them and wave as they take the children to the van. Daiki stops when she sees the booster seat.  
"What is that?" Teppei is already securing a quiet, placid Tetsuya into his seat and he looks across the seats.  
"It's a booster seat. It's for children, so you can be safe in the car." Satsuki leans to pick Daiki up and she crosses her arms.  
"Nuh, uh. I don't need a booster seat. I'm big enough to take care of myself." Satsuki freezes with her arms awkwardly outstretched and Teppei opens his mouth, only to be interuppted by Tetsuya.  
"Aomine-san, they are not saying you aren't big enough, they are staying, if the car is in an accident, you will not be able to protect yourself properly unless you are in a booster seat." Teppei and Satsuki share surprised glances and Tetsuya continues. "Get in the seat, Aomine-san, I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Kiyoshi would hate for you to be injured." Daiki grumbles under her breath about 'suck-up' and tries to climb into the van. Teppei, Satsuki and Tetsuya wait until she asks for help. She crossed her arms and an angry blush spreads across her face.  
"Will you help me into the car?" Satsuki nods and picks Daiki up. She straps her in and ignores Daiki's mutterings about 'I could have done it' and gives Teppei a tiny smile. Teppei drives back home.

When the garage door shifts open, the tense silence in the car is broken by Daiki's astonished gasp. Satsuki tilts her head.   
"Daiki?" Silence again. Through the rearview mirror, she can see Tetsuya coolly regarding Daiki in the backseat.   
"Mrs. Kiyoshi, is that your car?" Teppei grins.   
"No. It's mine." Daiki is practically bouncing in her seat.   
"An American car?!" Satsuki is a little offended.   
"This is my car. And they made it in America too." Teppei is already laughing.   
"Well, technically, BMW's are German." Satsuki glares at him. "Landrovers are from the UK." There's silence for a minute.   
"Are you rich?" Satsuki can see Tetsuya glaring at Daiki.   
"Aomine-san! That's a very rude question to ask." Daiki rolls her eyes.   
"Are you? He wants to know too." She points at Tetsuya, who narrows his translucent blue eyes. Teppei nervously laughs.   
"Which one of you is older again?" Daiki visibly grinds her teeth.   
"He is. But only by 8 months!" Tetsuya stares at her.   
"Aomine-san, that's almost an entire year." Daiki throws her arms up.   
"So?! I'm bigger than you. Are you sure you're 7?" Tetsuya huffs and doesn't respond. Teppei takes the key out of the ignition.   
"Alright, we're home! Well, we were home 3 minutes ago but I didn't want you arguing in the house..." Satsuki grins and they both jump out of the car. Satsuki opens the car door and gently pats Daiki's head.   
"Don't worry, Daiki, I'm sure Tetsuya will be a great big brother." She smiles across to Tetsuya just as Teppei pulls him from his seat. She unbuckles Daiki and lifts her out too. Tetsuya and Daiki carry their respective bags and drop them in the living room with a thump and curiously sweep their eyes over the furniture, Teppei pulls Satsuki into his arms and smiles at his children.   
"Welcome home Daiki. Welcome home Tetsuya." The doorbell rings. 

Satsuki scurries out from under Teppei's arm and at the door she finds Riko buzzing with excitement. She gives Satsuki a quick hug.   
"Are they here? Can I meet them?" Satsuki smiles. She wants Riko to meet her children, she's Kazunari's godmother for godssake, but they haven't settled in and aren't comfortable yet. And she tells Riko as much. Riko waves her off.   
"Hey, I understand, I was a new mom once, too." Satsuki heaves a relieved sigh.   
"Okay, great, so I want to slowly-"  
"You should throw a party!" Satsuki squints her eyes.   
"What?" Riko waves her hands around her head.   
"You know, like a 'baby shower' but a 'adoption party', you could invite the other kids on the street. Kazi goes out to play with them a lot. I could ask their parents to come too." Satsuki gapes like a fish and suddenly Teppei's arm swings over her shoulder.   
"Oh, cool idea. Sounds like fun. Maybe after the room are finished though, so they can show them off." He grins at an eager Riko and Satsuki accepts defeat graciously.   
"Fine. Is 2 weeks okay?"

Satsuki gets Riko a cup of tea and Teppei leads Tetsuya and Daiki up the stairs. He pauses at the first door and smiles at Tetsuya.   
"Tetsuya Kuroko-Kiyoshi, welcome to your very own room." He swings the door open with a flourish. Tetsuya peeks inside and comments with an emotionless face.   
"It's very white." Teppei ignores him to turn to the other door.   
"Daiki Aomine-Kiyoshi, welcome to your very own room." He kicks the bathroom door open. "And your shared bathroom!" Daiki raises an eyebrow.   
"My room looks just like his." Teppei shakes his head and wags his finger before opening and extending his arms.  
"Not for long! To make you comfortable and feel like you belong here, you can decorate your rooms however you'd like! We only have 2 weeks from today, but it will be fun!" Daiki actually smiles in a way that isn't a sneer and Tetsuya formally bows but there is a rare smile on his face.  
"Thank you." Teppei waits. And waits. Two big pairs of eyes stare at him. He waits. And finally he drops his tired arms with a bitter sigh. Tetsuya looks up at him for a second.   
"Mr. Kiyoshi? Were you waiting for something?" Teppei faintly laughs.   
"Hugs. I thought... I thought you'd hug me." For once, Daiki and Tetsuya share a glance that isn't menacing. Daiki steps forward and wraps her small arms around Teppei's leg and buries her face in his thigh.   
"Thank you, Mr. Kiyoshi. I truly appreciate it." Tetsuya tentatively grasps his other leg.   
"Thank you, Mr. Kiyoshi. This is very generous." Teppei rests his large hands on their heads.   
"This is what families do. They hug." He pulls them away from himself and lowers to 1 knee. "You can have a hug whenever you'd like. Just take it. They'll be given freely too, so just be prepared for hug attacks! Your new mom and I love you both and we want you to be happy here." Daiki and Tetsuya nod. 

They trail downstairs where Satsuki is just leading Riko to the door. She stops when she sees them.   
"Hey Daiki, Tetsuya. This is my friend Riko." Riko waves and bends down to shake their tiny hands.   
"Hello, nice to meet you both! You can call me Auntie Riko. I've got a daughter about your age, but you'll meet her soon enough! I've got to go now but I'll be around. Bye, sweeties!" She waves and shuts the door behind her. Tetsuya reaches for Satsuki's hand as he stands beside her. Her heart races and a wide smile threatens to crack her face when she turns to Teppei.   
"So, dinner?" Teppei nods.   
"Yeah. You can show them the stuff we got." He smiles down at Daiki, untangles their fingers, and excuses himself to the kitchen. Satsuki leads her children into the living room, where they can see Teppei working in the kitchen, and she pulls a decorated box overflowing with gifts from the corner.   
"Teppei and I have been buying things for you guys. So take something! We want you to be happy here." Daiki's curiosity makes her stick her hand into the box first and pull out a rectangular object wrapped in metallic fushia. Satsuki beams.   
"That one's yours, Daiki." Daiki shakes the present and there's a small rattle. She grins and rips the box open. Inside, there is a book and a package of beads. Daiki raises an eyebrow and her grin falters. Satsuki misses this and grins wider.   
"We can make friendship bracelets!" Daiki sneers.   
"We aren't friends." Teppei drops a pot in the kitchen and as he bends to retrieve it, he yells.   
"Tetsu, you can pick out a gift!" Tetsuya stares blankly at the box, but sticks his hand in. He pulls out a baseball with a shimmery blue ribbon. Teppei smiles in the kitchen.   
"Do you like it? We can toss it around in the backyard!" Tetsuya nods politely and Daiki reaches in again. She pulls out a dark blue wrapped box, and manages to hand it over to Tetsuya without any insults. He stares at it for a minute, then carefully untacks the tape and unfolds the wrapping to reveal a new PS3 and the NBA 2K13  game. Tetsuya thanks Satsuki politely, but Daiki grabs the game.   
"NBA 2K13!? I loved this game!" Tetsuya shrugs but eagerly hands the entire gift to Daiki.   
"Please, Aomine-san, if you enjoy it, use it." Daiki grins and sticks her hand back into the box, this time it's a heavier bundle, and when Daiki opens the pink drawstring bag, out tumbles several classic books. Satsuki grins as Daiki picks though them. Grimm's Fairytales, Robin Hood, Oliver Twist, Cat in the Hat, Where the Wild Things Are, The Rainbow Fish, Matilda... Tetsuya snatches them up as Daiki casually flings them back to the floor as Satsuki's smile wanes. Tetsuya hugs a book of Aesop's fables to his chest.  
"Aomine-san, since you have my game, may I have your books?" Daiki shrugs.  
"Yeah. Whatever." Tetsuya carefully gathers the books and stacks them beside him, he smiles at Satsuki.  
"Thank you for the gifts, Mrs. Kiyoshi." Satsuki's bright sile returns and she gestures to the box.  
"Please, there are 2 more presents, 1 for each of you." Tetsuya picks first and out comes a signature white Apple box. Daiki quickly sticks her hand in too, to pull out an identical box. She screams.  
"An iPhone!" Teppei laughs from the kitchen.  
"Our friend's daughter has 1. We figured you two would like them too. But you have to behave or they will be taken away as punishment." Tetsuya nods.  
"Of course, Mr. Kiyoshi. Thank you for the gifts." Daiki nods to, already opening her iPhone, to reveal it's brand new white metal. Tetsuya's is black and they both side glance at the other's until they finally switch. Teppei laughs.  
"Alright, gifts are finished and so is dinner. Come and get it." Tetsuya gathers his books, ba;ances the ball on top, and sticks his new white iPhone in his pocket. Daiki leaves the PS3 in the living room to be hooked up to the TV but takes the friendship bracelet book upstairs. Satsuki sets the table and as an after thought yells up the stairs.  
"Wash your hands before you come down, please." And Tetsuya calls back.  
"Yes, Mrs. Kiyoshi. And I'll make sure Aomine-san does too." Teppei smiles.

As homey as the atmosphere is, it's still full of tension every time Tetsuya says 'Mrs. Kiyoshi' and every time Daiki just hesitates and beckons towards them. Teppei sets his fork down.  
"This isn't going to work." Tetsuya's face is still calm but there is a flash of worry in his translucent eyes and Daiki doesn't bother to hide her horror. Satsuki glares at him until he realizes his mstake "No! No, not you two. You're fitting in. Except for one thing." Satsuki clears her throat, a warning to tread lightly. "Um, you cn't call us Mr. and Mrs. Kiyoshi if we're going to be a family. And Tetsu, you can't call Daiki Aomine-san if she's your sister. And Daiki, please call us something. We might not be Mom or Dad just yet, but please, give us the chance to move past Mr. and Mrs.  K, tonight if possible." Daiki shifts uncomfortably in her seat and Tetsuya tilts his head.  
"Okay. Everyone here can call me Tetsu." Teppei smiles and follows his lead.  
"Then everyone can call me Teppei." Daiki stares down her plate of food.  
"You can call me Dai." Satsuki smiles.  
"And you can call me Satsuki." Daiki clears her throat and smiles sheepishly.  
"I think you would be a good 'Momo'. Your hair is pretty." Satsuki smiles.  
"Thank you, Dai." Daiki blushes. They all continue eating.  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Satsuki's dress, because i love modcloth and wish i had $$, can be found on modcloth by searching for 'Garden Arty' :)


	8. Just Keep Swimming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teppei and Tetsuya paint those creepy walls. Satsuki and Daiki are making bracelets. Bonding commences?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update?! So fast?! Must be a miracle... Must be... WITCHCRAFT!

Satsuki has managed to pester Daiki into putting away her PS3 controller and pulling out the bracelet making book. Daiki had paused her game and stared at Satsuki for 20 minutes before shrugging and trodding upstairs to find the book. She passes Teppei in the stair well and he smiles at her.  
"Bonding with Satsuki?" Daiki rolls her eyes.  
"Momo-chan is annoying. I'm going to get it over with and go back to my game." Teppei laughs.  
"That's how I deal with her." Daiki smirks and continues up the stairs. Teppei walks down and stops in the living room where Satsuki is apparently crying tears of joy. She turns to him.  
"Teppei! Dai and I are bonding!" Teppei nods innocently.  
"Of course you are. Where's Tetsu?" There is a shuffle and a disaster of blue hair seems to apparate into the armchair in the corner. Teppei jumps and Satsuki screams. Tetsuya's blue eyes peek out over his book-Charlotte's Webb-and he looks unimpressed.  
"I've been her since 9 am. I was here before Aomi- _Dai-san_ was here. And you too Momo-chan." Teppei tries to shake of the feeling of adopting two full-grown midgets because  _why else would both of these children be so mature and terrifying._ Tetsuya sets his book down and stands up, just as Daiki returns with her bracelet book. She barely glances over but she comments.  
"How's your book, Tetsu?" Teppei and Satsuki turn to her with astonished faces but Tetsuya shrugs.  
"It's very good, Dai-san." Tetsuya turns to Teppei. "But, why were you asking for me, Teppei-san?" Teppei gapes like a fish for a second, trying to convince himself that ' _there's no way these kids are 6'_ shouldn't be running through his head.  
"Oh, Tetsu, do you want to paint your room today? You said you liked the colors we have." Tetsuya nods.  
"Yes. I would like that." Tetsuya leaves and his soft footsteps are not heard. Teppei turns to follow him and Daiki throws a longing look toward the stairs before Satsuki opens the pack of beads.  
"Dai! Sit, this is gonna be so much fun."

Teppei pulls all the paint pails and the ladder out of the closet while Tetsuya collects the paint brushes and rollers. He pauses when he finds the stencils of fish, and tucks it under his arm. Teppei smiles.  
"Are we gonna use that on your walls?" Tetsuya nods. "Well, I think I have some stencils of seaweed too. We can make your room underwater themed, if you'd like." Testuya nods.  
"That sounds fun, Teppei-san." They bring their supplies into Tetsuya's room and Teppei begins working the lid off the blue paint. Tetsuya lines the baseboards and under the window with painters tape, then pulls the ladder and acrefully steps up to tape above and around the window. By the time Teppei has worked the lid off and stirred the paint, Tetsuya has covered the hardwood with a white cloth and is going through the other paints, to find the colors for his fishes. Teppei selects a small paint brush and dips it in the blue paint.  
"Tetsu, here you go. We can start in the farthest corner from the door and work out. Then wait for it to dry and go back to do the fishes." Tetsuya nods and takes the little brush and starts to line along the baseboards. Teppei takes a slightly larger brush and heads up the ladder to paint the corner against the celing. The finish that quickly, Tetsuya finished up around the window, and step back to admire their work. Teppei claps his hands together.  
"Now for the fun part! The rollers." He pours some paint into the flat foil container and rolls a medium sized roller through it. He checks for drips, then hands it to an eager Tetsuya, who begins to roll it evenly along the wall from as high as he can, to the floor. Teppei takes a larger roller and begins doing the missed section above Tetsuya. They work around the room in tandem, Teppei always right behind Tetsuya, and after 3 hours step back again to admire their work. The walls are an ocean green-blue color, with tendrils of black and forest green seaweed shooting up from the baseboards, darkening near the floor per Tetsuya's wishes and they had taken the left over darkened blue to paint the white ceiling too. Except for the hardwood, it was like standing at the bottom of the ocean. Teppei opened his arms and Tetsuya willingly stepped into them.  
"Wow, Tetsu, it looks great! Good job." Tetsuya squirms slightly in his arms and then, suddenly, is just another impatient child.  
"When can we paint the fishies?" Teppei laughs.  
"We have to wait for everything to dry first! But do you just want fishes? We can have an octopus, a shark, maybe you want the bottom of a boat right there?" Teppei haphazardly points to a rondom spot on the ceiling and Tetsuya brightens.  
"That's cool! We could do that. Thank you, Teppei-san."

Satuki hums as she forms a complcated braid. Daiki shoots a glare in her direction and Satsuki gives her new daughter a saccharine smile.  
"I never expected my daughter to be so glare-y." Daiki growls.  
"That's not even a real word." Satsuki shakes her head and lifts her bracelet.  
"Whatever, aren't these pretty, Dai?" Daiki raises an eyebrow and looks at the knot of strings in her lap.  
"I think mine's a... tumbleweed." She looks a Satsuki's perfectly made bracelet and snorts. "But I guess some girls are just better at this." Satsuki puts aside her mocking with a new, worried smile.  
"Daiki, I think you're a lovely girl" Daiki sneers.  
"Wow. Thanks. Could I just play my game?" Satsuki rolls her eyes and takes Daiki's knot away, then ppresents her with a new set of threads.  
"No, Dai. You're gonna finish this. It's the first thing we've done together!" Daiki blinks at her wordlessly and then Teppei heavy footfalls can be heard. He sticks his head into the room, and Tetsuya's head pokes around too. He waves but Teppei smirks.  
"Having fun with those bracelets, my sweethearts?" Daiki grins.  
"Of course, Teppei. Momo-chan and I are having loads of fun." Then she mimes hanging herslef and Satsuki looks half amused and half concerned.  
"Dai, should you know what a hanging is at 6?" Daiki shrugs.  
"I have interesting interests." Teppei and Tetsuya decide it's a good time to leave and make sandwiches.

After their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, accompanied by the music of Satsuki and Daiki arguing over the difficulty of braided bracelets, Teppei and Tetsuya return to their masterpiece. The decide that Teppei will paint the bottom of a boat onto the ceiling, while Tetsuya does some fish along the lower 2 feet of the wall. They work in silence, concentrating on perfecting their brushstrokes and Teppei is startled out of his tempo of brushstrokes from a crisp snap. He turns to find a straight-faced Tetsuya holding 2 halves of his paintbrush.   
"Tetsu! Are you okay? What happened?" Tetsuya points to a fish on the wall.  
"The stencil slipped and this fish is messy. It's imperfect." Teppei climbs down from the top of the ladder, smoothing the crick in his neck with one hand, he takes the broken paintbrush from Tetsuya.  
"It's okay, Tetsu. Nothing is perfect. And it doesn't matter." Tetsuya fixes him with a glare more intense than Daiki's.  
"It mater's I have to be perfect. Then I'll be good enough. I wasn't good enough for my Mom because... Because I wasn't perfect." Teppei watches Tetsuya's face fall and turns to get a new brush.  
"Tetsuya... Your mother wasn't your fault. And you need to know, Satsuki and I will always love you. You don't need to be perfect to be better than good enough for us to love." He picks a similar brush to the broken one and turns back to hand it to Tetsuya, but all the basketball he played in highschool hasn't translated into everyday grace, and his foot catches on the handle of a bucket of blue paint and as heis body is thrown to the floor, he hears tetsuya cry out. There's a splash and a gasp, and from his vantage point sprawled on the ground Teppei can see all the detailed, perfect fish Tetsuya has been painstakingly bringing to life on his walls hae been drowned in a fresh coat of blue paint. Tetsuya immediately begins to wipe what paint he can away with a paint rag and teppei pulld himself up to his knees, only to fling his entire body back down.  
"Tetsu! I'm so sorry! You're fish were so etailed and beautiful, I aapologize for my clumsiness. I need you to forgive me, please, I may not be perfect, but I need your love. Please, Tetsuya. Understand that even though I'm not perfect and I make mistakes, I still need acceptance and love, and I need to know i can get that from you." Tetsuya gares at him and hands his another rag.  
"Please, clean off the wall." They work in silence, carefully removing as much paint as they can. After a few minutes, the fresh paint is mostly removed except for a few spots. Teppei pauses and looks at Tetsuya.  
"But, Tetsu, do you forgive me?" Tetsuya looks at him for a second, then arfully draws a tall man in a scuba sut. He writes 'TK' beside the man and turns to Teppei.  
"Now I know who made a mistake on my wall." Teppei smiles.

Once the room is complete, and smells overpoweringly of paint even with the window open and fans directing air outside, Teppei and Tetsuya toch up their art and pck away the brushes. There are fishes swimming all over the walls, the boat 'sits' near the center of the room, an octopus floats by the window and a shark lurks in the farthest corner. They invite Satsuki and Daiki up to see the room, interupting their arguement, an Daiki smiles.  
"This is cool! I can't wait to do my room." Satsuki kissed each of them on the cheek.  
"Our little home is coming together, isn't it?" Teppei ruffles Tetsuya's blue hair and smiles. 

 


	9. You Do Okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Satsuki is a failure. Aomine won't talk. Kuroko is wise. Teppei is the glue.

You Do Okay

When the blaring alarm hits Teppei's ears, he groans and rolls over to wrap around Satsuki.   
"Why~?" Satsuki rolls her eyes, even though they're closed, and nudges him off.   
"Because you have a family to support." Teppei groans again and presses his face into her messy hair and she pats his shoulder awkwardly. "There, there, you big baby." She untangles their limbs and opened the window, the rising sun lighting up their room. Teppei quickly rolls over to avoid the light and Satsuki sighs. She pulls his suit for the day out of the closet and pulls on a robe before slipping out the door. She heads up the stairs and stops in Kuroko's doorway. The mattress he's been sleeping on is perfectly made and he's not in it. Someone clears their throat behind her and she jumps.   
"Momo-chan, good morning." Satsuki sighs with relief.   
"Oh, good morning Tetsu." Kuroko ducks around her and into his room. Satsuki goes over to Aomine's door and carefully pushes the door open. Aomine is splayed over her mattress with the sheets in a tangle, her head tilted awkwardly with her mouth wide open and straying blue strands of hair forming a halo. Satsuki can't help but giggle behind her hand as she knocks gently on the door.   
"Dai. Dai, wake up." Aomine is deathly still. "Dai! Daiki!" Satsuki moves and shakes the bed. Aomine sleeps like the dead. Satsuki shakes Aomine's shoulder, and yells into her ear. "Daiki Aomine! The house is on fire!" Aomine is dead. Satsuki sighs and is startled to find Kuroko behind her.   
"May I try, Momo-chan?" Satsuki nods and Kuroko steps up beside Aomine's head. He lays on hand on her cheek and bends over her, then whispers.   
"Dai-san. I've beat your high score." Aomine's head snaps up and almost connects with Kuroko's nose but he's suddenly across the room.   
"Liar!" she screams and throws her pillow in his direction but he's already out the door. Satsuki laughs until Aomine looks over at her. "He's lying, right?" Satsuki shrugs.   
 "I think so. But get up, your Da-Teppei is going to work." Aomine lets the slip, slide. She raises up and sits cross-legged.  
"Oh? Why?" Satsuki gives half a shrug.   
"He's already taken a 4 days off work to settle you in. He needs to go back." Aomine sits silently, then glares at Satsuki.   
"Okay. I need to change now." Satsuki, confused, leaves the room. Kuroko is already downstairs, drinking a cup of orange juice while Teppei sips his coffee. Teppei gives Satsuki a kiss as she reviews his outfit.   
 "Do I look good for the 'first' day back?" She smirks.   
"Of course you do, I dressed you." He ruffles Kuroko's hair before dropping a light on his head, his brown eyes dart towards the clock. 7:26-time to go.   
"Is Dai still sleeping?" There's suddenly a dark aura in the kitchen.   
"No. I was woken to say goodbye." She turns stiffly to Teppei and glares. "Good. Bye." (Teppei thinks it sounds like 'go die') Kuroko's eyes narrow.   
"Dai-san. Be polite." It's a thinly veiled threat and Aomine rolls her eyes but corrects herself.   
"Have a nice day, Teppei." Teppei smiles and kisses her forehead.   
"Thank you, Dai. You too. Bye guys. See you later!" He rushes out the door to the garage and when his car can be heard leaving, Satsuki turns to her children-her children!-and smiles.   
"What do you want for breakfast?" Kuroko wants cereal, Aomine wants pancakes and bacon and eggs and a chocolate sundae. Satsuki swears to God, she'll be a good mother but she's not letting one of her children have a chocolate sundae for breakfast. And as she has to explain to Aomine, it's not okay because it's Tuesday.  
   
Once Kuroko and Aomine are fed (cereal and pancakes respectively) Satsuki washes the dishes while they excuse themselves to the living room. Satsuki has a clear view of Aomine reloading her checkpoint on one of the games they bought for Kuroko and Kuroko happily choosing a book they brought for Aomine off the shelves. Before she heads to the study to begin her work, she interrupts Kuroko's reading-Aesop's Fables-to give him a tight hug, her specialty hug that guarantees at least a full laugh and a returned hug from Kazunari, but when she pulls away, Kuroko just looks unimpressed and Satsuki secretly doesn't believe he's 7. Scratch that-human, because everyone loves her hugs. Satsuki continues with this routine of waking Teppei, being startled by Kuroko, waking Aomine, breakfast, and hugs for 3 days and on Friday, after Teppei and Satsuki tuck Kuroko and Aomine in, and prepare for bed, she sighs.   
"I don't think Tetsu likes me." Teppei throws the decorative pillows off the bed to the floor.   
"Hmm? Why?" Satsuki glares at him then collects and carefully piles them my her nightstand.   
"I don't know. It's just a feeling." Teppei crawls into bed as Satsuki grabs her toothbrush.   
"Well, when do you get the feeling?" Satsuki shrugs.   
"Whenever I hug him, he doesn't seem to care." Satsuki begins to brush her teeth as Teppei mulls over it a moment.   
"What does Dai do?" Satsuki turns quickly with her toothbrush limp in her hand and a mouth full of foam.   
"Waf?" Teppei sighs.   
"Daiki, what does she do when you hug her?" Satsuki looks confused and spits into the sink.   
"I don't... Oh! Ohmigod. I've been ignoring her!" She wails and bangs her head into the mirror before rinsing her mouth and crawling into bed with Teppei. "I didn't mean to! I was so worried about Kuroko..." Satsuki looks up at Teppei with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry Teppei, I'm a horrible mother." Teppei runs his large hand through Satsuki's pink hair.   
"No. Just inexperienced, 'Suki. Tomorrow, take her shopping. For furniture, you fan apologize and we can stop letting our children sleep on the floor." Satsuki nods and with Teppei reassuring her, finally falls asleep. The next morning, Teppei claps his hands together after breakfast.   
"Dai! You and Satsuki will be buying furniture today!" Aomine looks unimpressed but Kuroko looks startled.   
"Teppei-kun, what about my furiniture?" Teppei shrugs.   
"Find things online. They aren't leaving now, so you can give them a list. I'll help you." Kuroko gives one of his rare smiles and 2 hours later is handing Satsuki an organized folder of bedroom furniture.   
"Please find things similar to these, Momo-chan. If it's too much, please leave somethings behind." Teppei squeezes his shoulder lightly.  
"Nope. You'll get everything you need here, Tetsu. Have fun, Dai!" Aomine glares as she follows Satsuki to the car. 

Satsuki doesn't think she can do this. Aomine is wailing loudly in the middle of Ikea, screaming as shopper's eye Satsuki suspiciously, their opposite colorings not helping at all. It rspecially doesn't help when Aomine flops to the ground in a heap, then rises o point a single finger at Satsuki.  
"You're not my Mom!" This attracts even more attention and an old woman, whose face would have been kind if not for the vicious glare she was shooting at Satsuki, steps between them. Satsuki hurries to explain as a crowd gathers.  
"No, no, well, yes. But she's adopted! I' not really her Mom, but her Mom..." Satsuki can feel her panic rising as her eyes dart around for a sympathetic character, but all she sees is 2 security guards being led toward her. "No, no! Dai! Daiki, please stop crying." The security stops before her and the man looks down on her.  
"Ma'am, do we have a problem here?" The woman keeps her hand on  her baton and Satsuki finds herself holding back tears.  
"My...my daughter..." The female guard looks back at the now quieter Aomine and then to Satsuki.  
"Is that your 'daughter'?" Satsuki nods and the woman tenderly picks Aomine off the floor while the man disperses the crowd and taes hold of her arm.  
"Alright, ma'am, just a few questions..." And minutes later, Satsuki finds herself in a little back room. Aomine is gone, and the man walks into the room and Satsuki stands.  
"Where is Daiki?" The man motions for her to return to her seat.  
"She's with my partner. But we have to ask why thi outburst occured. Children don't scream people aen't their parents for fun." Satsuki resists the urge to shift like she's done something bad under his scrutiny.  
"Well, I've just adopted her. With my husband. I was taking her shopping for bedroom furniture and I asked her to hold my hand in the store so she wouldn't get lost." The guard nods and takes a seat. Satsuki continues. "Dai said she could take care of herslef, and without thinking, I said, I'm your parent now, so you don't have to take care of yourself all alone. But Dai was abandoned by her mother, so I must have upset her..." The guard clears his throat.  
"You say you've adopted her with your husband?" Satsuki nods. "Where is he now?" Satsuki runs a hand through her pink hair.  
"He's at home. We adopted a litle boy, too. This was supposed to be Dai and I's bonding time." The guard stands to leave and Satsuki jumps up. "Wait! Don't you believe she's my daughter? Can't I have her back, please?" The guard smiles.  
"I knew she was your daughter the instant the first question came out of your mouth; And I'm just going to get her, follow me." Satsuki eaerly follows the guard out to the food counter where the female guard is treating Aomine to an ice cream cone. Satsuki sighs in relief and the female guard stands.  
"Ma'am, I suggest you get her home. It's been a long day for her." Aomine smiles up a the guard and Satsuki's chest feels tight.  
"Momo-chan, I'm going to be a security guard whe I'm big!" The guards ruffle Aomine's hair and laugh. Satsuki takes Aomine's shoulder to avoid another scene and waves goodbye to the guards.

When they return home, Teppei is heading to the backyard with Kuroko holdin the baseball behind him and he smiles.  
"Back so quickly? Do you need help taking anything ou of the car?" Satsuki basically collapses onto the kitchen counter and Aomine leaves sticky, chocolate handprints along the counter as she tries to was her hands. Teppei turns on the tap and lifts Aomine the extra 3 inches to reach, and Satsuki groans.  
"There's nothing in the car. We had an incident and needed to come home."Teppei quirks his eyebrows and Satsuki doesn't want him to question her because she can already feel tears pricking her eyes. "I'll tell you later." Teppei releases Aomine and she quickly steals the ball from Kuroko and leaves, Kuroko quickly following her outside. Satsuki motions for Teppei to follow them and heads to their bedroom for a shower. Outside, Teppei, Kuroko and Aomine gently pass between themselves until Teppei smiles at Aomine.  
"How was the shopping." Aomine shrugs and passes to Kuroko.  
"Okay, I guess." Kuroko narrows his eyes and tosses to Teppei. His throw is weak and wobbly.  
"Dai-san, are you sure? Momo-chan was upset and you aren't saying much." Aomine's eyes darken.  
"Why is she upset? I should be upset." Teppei is quickly excluded from the game as Aomine and Kuroko's passes get harder and faster. Kurko is till eeriely calm.  
"Why are you upset, Dai-san?" Aomine whips the ball.  
"I'm not upset, she just tries too hard." Kuroko manages to cleanly catch the ball.  
"So, Momo-chan isn't nice?" Aomine shrugs as she catches Kuroko's shaky pass.  
"She's nice. She just tries too hard." Kuroko hols the ball when he catches it.  
"Why don't you tell her that?" Aomine's ears turn red as she realizes what she's been talking so freely about and Teppei is amazed at Kuroko's skill. Kuroko passes back to Aomine and a harsh glare appears in her navy eyes.  
"Stop it!" She throughs the ball directly at Kuroko's head and Teppei has to jump forward and catch it. His hands are stinging from the force, Aomine has disappeared inside and Kuroko stands safely and calmly a few feet away. Teppei toss the ball from one had to the other and then pats Kuroko's houlder.  
"She might not realize it yet, but you are a great bug brother, Tetsu." Kuroko nods. "How did you know what she was upset abiu? How did you calm her into talking?" Kuroko shrugs.  
"It's easy to observe and learn whre you are never noticed. But you do okay too." Teppei ruffles Kuroko's baby blue hair.  
"Okay let's head inside."

Once Kuroko is settled with a book-Curious George-and Teppei has assured himself that Aomine is too engrossed in her game to kill her brother, he heads for the bedroom and finds Satsuki bundled up in all their blankets, the decorative pillows thrown to the floor. Teppei gathers them and stacks them beside her nightstand before siting beside her on the bed.  
"Satsuki... I know why Dai is sad." Satsuki sniffs.  
"Of course you do! You're at work all day, but they still like you better." Teppei hesitates, but knows he must say it.  
"Daiki thinks you try too hard, to be a mom, I mean." Satsuki wails.  
"It's because I have to try hard! Look at how awful things are now! Imagine if I wasn't trying..." Teppei thinks to Kuroko and his wide, wise, diaphanous eyes and wraps his arms around his panicked weeping wife.  
"No... Satsuki," He tugs her chin up and forces her to look him in the eyes. "You do okay." And he lowers his lips to hers in a comforting kiss.


	10. Mess of A Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Satsuki loses Kuroko at the grocery store. Daiki finds Kuroko. Teppei is a giant teddy bear (but we already knew that).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LONGEST HIATUS EVER HAS COME TO AN END! I'm hoping to add to this story, and introduce the rest of the characters soon! Stick with me! >.

Teppei sticks his head into the fridge, then pulls it out and shuts the door. Against his common sense, he does this twice more and when he stops he finds a very bemused Kuroko watching him. Teppei rolls his eyes and yells.

"'Suki! Satsuki!" Satsuki's voice rings out from her office.  
"What?" Teppei stares wistfully at the fridge.  
"We're out of milk!" He peeks into the fridge again and Kuroko smirks. "And eggs! And I think we need something for dinner and breakfast tomorrow and-" Satsuki appears in the door way, neat but frazzled, and runs a hand through her pink hair.  
"I can go to the market." Teppei shakes his head.  
"I can go. You're working on your coding." He watched her literally pluck a pen from her hair and grab a notepad.  
"No, I need a break. What did we need? Milk?" Kuroko nods.

"And eggs and dinner and breakfast for tomorrow." Teppei rolls his eyes.  
"There's more than that. I'll write a list." Satsuki smiles and turns to Kuroko.  
"Do you want to come to the market with me Tetsu?" Kuroko shrugs and sets his clear, blue eyes at the door.  
"Only if Dai-san wishes to come." Satsuki turns to find Aomine startled in the doorway and smiles.  
"Dai-chan! Do you want to come to the market?" Aomine aggressively shrugs.  
"Whatever." Satsuki claps happily.  
"Okay! Please go get dressed, sweets. We'll leave once the list is written." Kuroko and Aomine leave the room and once their footsteps have disappeared up the steps Teppei worriedly looks at Satsuki.

"You remember what Hajime said at the orphanage?" Satsuki rolls her eyes.  
"I won't let go of him, Teppei. I love him too." Satsuki leaves the kitchen. While she's securing Aomine and Kuroko into their booster seats, she makes sure to set ground rules.  
"Okay, no shouting or screaming in the market. No temper tantrums if I refuse to buy you something and especially," Teppei's worried expression is at the front of her mind, "Guys, especially remember to hold my hand. Don't let go, okay?" The children both nod and Satsuki feels a weight lift off her shoulders.

Satsuki wonders if she should have let Teppei come along. The frail, tiny Kuroko had agreed to sit in the basket but Aomine ran from display to display, any prior agreement to hold Satsuki's hand and not let go apparently forgotten. She's currently fawning over a display that features gummy bears and seems to forget all the other rules too.  
"Momo-chan! Can I have gummy bears?" Satsuki blushes at the disapproving look she gets from other mothers as Aomine shouts across the entire store. Kuroko seems to have not forgotten, because he yells back.  
"Dai-san! No yelling in the market." He immediately realizes his mistake and looks at Satuki. "Sorry, Momo-chan." Satsuki shakes her head and hastily moves across the market.

"Dai-chan. Stop it and come with me." Aomine pouts but allows herself to be dragged back to the cart and then her tiny brow furrows.  
"Where's Tetsu-kun?" Momoi rolls her eyes.  
"He's in the cart. where I'm going to put you." Aomine's deep blue eyes widen almost comically on her face.  
"I'm not kidding, Momo-chan!" Momoi turns to the cart.  
"Tetsu, coul-Tetsu? Tetsu!" The cart has milk, and egg, and carrots, and not a hair of pale blue can be seen anywhere. Momoi breaks her own rule. "Tetsu!"

She screams in the market, ignoring dirty looks, as she races through the aisles. She doesn't realize her hold on Aomine's hand getting tighter and tighter, until-  
"Momo-chan! Momo-chan, my hand hurts!" Momoi quickly releases Dai's hand.  
"I'm sorry, sweetheart... But, Tetsu..." Dai shakes her hand and stretches each finger.  
"Maybe he returned to the cart?" Momoi tries to calm herself, and doesn't let Dai's fussing stop her from getting gathered up into Momoi's arms. On the trek back to the cart, Momoi steady's her nerves with data about the low child abduction rate and the probability of Tetsu being forcibly taken, and she nearly drops Dai when she sees Tetsuya's familiar shock of blue hair standing beide the cart, calming talking to a woman. He turns to her and his translucent eyes shimmer.

"Thank you, Miss, but Momo-chan is here now." Dai strugles out of Momoi's arms and punches Tetsu's shoulder.  
"You scared us, baka!" Momoi tearfully thanks the woman until she walks away then turns to Tetsu.  
"Tetsu! What did I say about staying near?" Tetsu stares blankly.  
"I did stay near. I wanted to find Pocky." Momoi shakes her head.  
"How near is the Pocky?" Tetsu points until Momoi turns to find the display only a few feet away in plain sight. She blushes and Kuroko continues.  
"When I turned around, you and Dai-san where gone. I waited by the basket. You passes me several times." Momoi's face goes red.  
"Okay, fine. Both of you, in the cart."

Dai and Tetsu disappear to who knows where when they return home, and Teppei helps Satuki unload the car.  
"So, how was it?"  
"I lost Tetsu." Satsuki would laugh at Teppei's bewildered face as he stands with a jug of milk in one hand and the carton of eggs in the other, but she's too worried.  
"You what?" He whispers, like he's not sure he wants to know and Satsuki repeats herself.  
"I lost Tetsu. But not really. He just... I couldn't see him, but he was there." Teppei shakes his head.  
"You're kinda messed up, Suki." He sticks out his tongue and Satsuki shakes her head.  
"Next time, you're taking them. See what happens." Teppei makes a face and shakes his head.  
"Absolutely not. I want you to be the only one who's lost a child." Satsuki hip checks him as she passes with a bag of rice.  
"Next time, we can go together."

Teppei's 100 percent sure Satsuki's gotten over "losing" Tetsu until they go to bed. Her freshly washed hair hangs damp on her shoulder and she's got the decorative pillows piled beside the bed. She looks up at him just as he steps from the bathroom.  
"I can't believe it."  
"What?"  
"I lost Tetsu! I'm a bad mother, aren't I?" Teppei towels his hair.  
"Not even close, you're great, just inexperienced and-"  
"I lost my son in the market. I'm a mess, Teppei!" Satsuki starts to cry and Teppei forgets his wet hair.  
"NO. No, you aren't. You're Satsuki Kiyoshi and I love you. You're an amazing mother, certified by the city, and they gave you 2 children to love. You have to keep being Satsuki, because you're perfect." Teppei brushes his lips at her temple and hugs her until she calms down. Her fingers clench at his shoulders, but her breathing evens out and she whimpers.

"I can't..." Teppei resorts to his failsafe and kisses her. It's soft against her lips, warm with her nestled to his chest, and Teppei holds the kiss until her heart is pounding and she gasps when he pulls away.  
"Teppei..." Her pink eyes go soft and sharp all at once, a look Teppei hasn't seen since they adopted, and when she falls back invitingly Teppei follows her down.  
It's easy to reduce Satsuki to a quivering mess. She always snorts when Teppei mentions it, and says "only because it's you"-which reduces Teppei to a giggling adolescent. But it's only Teppei who had gotten the chance to master how to carefully skip his long fingers up her legs. Only his skin on hers, his voice in her ear. Teppei uses his long limbs to his every advantage, one hand cradling her cheek while he whispers into Satsuki's ear, the other teasing the waistband of her pyjamas.  
"You'll be okay, 'Suki. You'll always be a wonderful mother, and I'm here to help you. I love you, you know right?" Satsuki's body shivers when he allows one slender finger to dip past the pyjamas.

"I know, I love you. You're a beautiful father." Teppei smiles against her ear.

"You should meet my wife. She's exquisite."

 


	11. Solid Stripes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teppei’s on a deadline. Satsuki tries to help, Kuroko actually does. And Aomine kind of likes having a big brother.

Teppei is awoken by Satsuki throwing an arm across his stomach-in a fashion that would rival several belly flops-and Teppei's sure the sting he feels is a guarantee of a bruise. He rolls over and groans.  
"Satsuki."  
"Rise and shine!"  
"If I rise, I'm gonna faceplant." Satsuki snorts and Teppei can feel the bed tilt him towards her as she sits up.  
"Teppei, we have so much to do! We have to assemble and set all of Tetsu's furniture up, and Dai's room isn't even painted yet!" Teppei tries to delay the inevitable and covers his head with his pillow. Surprisingly, Satsuki gets out with a creak of the bed and Teppei silently celebrates, he is blinks away from napping when Tetsu's pale blue eyes are glowing above him.  
"Teppei-kun, it hurts my back to sleep just on the mattress. When will I have furniture?"   
"Did she put you up to this?" The corner of Tetsu's mouth tilts up.  
"No."  
"Are you lying, Tetsu?"  
"... I'm not not lying."   
"Ugh. Give me a minute." Tetsu smiles softly and climbs off the bed.  
“Thank you, Teppei-kun.” His feet pad on the carpet and Teppei flings his own arm across his eyes and groans again. Satsuki’s pink head peeks in.  
“You okay, babe?”  
“You don’t have to harass me with our son, I’m moving...”  
“You sure about that?”  
“Satsuki...” She laughs and Teppei waits until her footsteps disappear down the stairs before he sits up. He runs a hand through his messy hair and checks the time. 8:45. With a hard kick, the covers fly up and off, and Teppei hops out of bed. After a quick shower and a dab of hair gel, Teppei makes his way to the kitchen-where he runs right into Tetsuya.  
“Whoa, Tetsu, sorry!”  
“It’s fine, Teppei-kun. Are we fixing my bed now?” Satsuki laughs from the sink and Teppei rolls his eyes.  
“Yeah, little blue. Maybe we can put Dai’s together too.” He turns to Satsuki. “Where is she, anyways?”   
“Living room, video games.”  
“Dai-san has been awake since 6:30.” Tetsu offers helpfully-but Teppei thinks he’s being mocked.  
“Dai! Do you want to put some furniture together?” Silence. “Daiki!” Tetsu shrugs.  
“Dai-san gets very into her game. We should go into the room.” Teppei nods and Tetsu trails him into the living room. Daiki’s eyes are glued to the TV and glazed as her little Sack Person jumps from platform to platform.   
“Dai! Do you want to help put the furn-”  
“No. Get out.” Teppei dramatically covers his heart and Tetsu plunks himself beside her.  
“Dai-san, would you like to do a giant puzzle?” She pauses her game.

In the garage Teppei, Tetsu, and Dai each secure a corner and a lovely Swedish Allan wrench with a piece of minimalist furniture. Tetsu had opted for simple matching white bedroom set and settles with his bookshelf, securing the shelves and drawers-Teppei makes mental note to check all of the screws. Dai watches him for a minute before choosing her night table-a vivid blue box with green baskets for "shelves". As they sort through the boxes and match part A to part B to part C, Teppei discretly tightens Tetsu's loose screws and checks Dai's little purple chairs and red table for sturdiness, Satsuki appears with tuna sandwiches, milkshakes, and enthusiasim.  
"Wow! Everything is really coming together. Good job, honey." She ruffles Teppei's messy hair. "You too, honey bees. Your rooms will look great." Tetsu gives a small smile and Dai grins.  
"Thanks." Satsuki takes the plates and glasses back the kitchen, shrugging off any responsibility to help.  
"I have to finish this code, Tep. It's important." Teppei opens his mouth to argue. "Plus, it's your bonding time with them. I'll have them when you go back to work." Teppei makes a face and Satsuki playfully smacks his shoulder.   
"Keep Teppei busy, loves!" She waits until Tetsu gives an obedient nod before leaving with a smile. Teppei is kind of worried that Dai has already perfected the irritated teenage girl eye roll. They continue with the puzzle piece furniture, until Tetsu sets his Allan wrench neatly by his foot and shifts awkwardly.   
"Teppei?"  
"Hmm?" Teppei tightens the rainbow shelving for Dai's room.   
"My furniture is complete." Tetsu sounds just as shocked as Teppei is.   
"Um. Okay... Dai! Let's move Tetsu in!" Dai raises an eyebrow, but sighes and picks up a small white stool. Tetsu takes the matching white folding table, and Teppei hoists the bookshelf onto his shoulder. Dai strides through the garage door, and Tetsu holds it open for Teppei. Satsuki sticks her head out of the office and smirks.  
"Don't scratch the walls, Tepp." She adjusts her headphones.  
"Tetsu, Dai, be careful up the stairs." Teppei motions to the bookshelf on his shoulder and she sighs, hauls herself out of her chair and lifts the other end of the shelves.

Tetsu sits gently on the edge of his bed and admires his furnished room. Teppei has thought the white furniture with the ocean themed walls would look odd, but if looked like a futuristic home underwater.   
"The room looks great, doesn't it Dai?" Satsuki chirps from her stop perched on a tiny stool.   
"It's okay."   
"When can we paint your room, Dai?" Teppei's feeling productive and hopes she says 'today'.  
"Um... I don't know how I want it yet." Dai visibly squirms under their eyes.   
"Oh! What's your favorite color? Or we could make it pink or orange or red... Or pink!" Satsuki smiles.   
"But look how cool Tetsu's room is, we could do a theme. Like a forest, or jungle. Maybe even space!" Teppei's always wanted a space themed room.   
"I haven't picked yet..." Dai murmurs and Satsuki stands.   
"It's okay, Dai. Let us know when you pick. Tepp? What to help me with lunch?"   
"Sure. We're downstairs, guys." Teppei and Satsuki leave the room, and Tetsu looks at Dai.   
"There's only a few more days left before a party, and I'm sure Momo-chan and Teppei-kun would appreciate your room colors."   
"I don't think it matters. I'll be on my room." Dai stalks out of the room and Tetsu heads to his brand new bookshelf. Half into 'The BFG', Tetsu is startled by Dai standing in his doorway.  
"Dai-san, have you picked your colors yet?"   
"No." She sounds miserable. "I can't pick."  
"What do you like, Dai-san? I liked fish, so I asked for this." Tetsu sets his book down.   
"I like... I like red. And blue, and purple. And green." Dai sits on one of the stools.   
"... They can't mix those colors." Tetsu comments, still thinking about it.   
"I know..."  
"But you could go with Teppei-kun to the paint store and find shades that look nice together. Then you could have striped walls."   
"Stripes." Dai's face brightens, she'd never considered that. "That sounds nice. I'll tell them!" She gets up and bolts for the door and Tetsu returns to his book. A few seconds later she returns, shyly.   
"I guess it's not so bad, having a big brother."   
"Oh. Thank you." Tetsu looks at Dau curiously as she extends her fist. "Are you going to hit me?"  
"No! It's a fist bump. People on TV do it. It's cool, it's for... It's for friends." Dai looks bashful but her hand hovers near enough that Tetsu tentatively reaches out and meets it.   
"I think having a little sister is okay too." Tetsu allows himself to give a tiny smile and Dai grins. 

Teppei is somehow more splattered with paint, even though he's done this before, but Dai's room is finally finished. They'd lined out rectangles with painters tape and gone around the entire room with rose red, pale yellow, mint green, baby blue, and lavender in foot wide strips and when the tape came down, the thin white lines made it look professional. All of Dai's brightly colored, not matching furniture managed to look matched with the colorful effect and she smiled.   
"It looks so cool!"  
"Yeah. It does. The stripes were a good idea." Teppei picks up the brushes and rollers to wash them.   
"It was Tetsu-kun's idea." Dai smiles wider.   
"Well, since you two are getting along, we still need to finish the bathroom. You can go ask Tetsu about it. I'll clean up." Teppei offers and Dai races out of the room.   
"Tetsu-kun! How should we finish the bathroom?" Dai jumps onto his bed and bounces, startling Tetsu at this little desk.   
"It should stay white. It's easier for both of us." Tetsu shrugs.  
"But that's so boring! We should make it bright! And colorful!" Dai throws her hands up and Tetsu smiles softly.   
"I have an idea. We can leave it white but we give it a theme. I'm sure we can buy curtains and rugs to fit our theme."   
"That's a good idea! What would our theme be?" Dai is genuinely excited.   
"Have you ever heard of The Cat in the Hat?" Tetsu reaches into his book shelf and pulls out a thin blue book. "Read it. And tell me if you think it's a good idea."   
"I... Okay." Dai hesitates but accepts the book and lays down on the bed-her room smells like paint fumes. She giggles as she reads along and shuts the book after a few minutes with a grin.   
"I like the cat! This is a good idea."  
"We can tell Teppei-kun and Momo-chan." Tetsu rises and Dai follows him out the door. A quick trip to the store later, they decorate the bathroom with the Cat juggling Fish, an umbrella, a book, and a teacup on a shower curtain, a rug with his face, a waste basket with Things 1 and 2, and a toothbrush holder that looks like his hat.   
"This is a cute idea, guys!" Satsuki gushes as she sweeps the floor.  
"We agreed in it together!" Dai shares, quietly fist bumping Tetsu.   
"It's good you're getting along now. The party is only a few days away!" Teppei grins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aiming to have a new chapter up every Saturday. :) Bear with me! Thanks for reading.


	12. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsuya and Daiki meet their neighbours. Their neighbours are crazy.

Riko is already bouncing around the house, throwing streamers and pushing the helium filled balloons into different rooms.  
"Hyuuga! Did you order the pizza like I told you?" Riko yells over her shoulder as she secures the 'Welcome' banner right in front of the front door. In the kitchen, Hyuuga rolls his eyes at Teppei.  
"Yeah. I did. It should be here-" The doorbell rings. "-Right now. Huh." He hears the door open and Riko brings the boxes into the kitchen.  
"Where's Satsuki?"  
"Right here. The girls and Tetsu were helping me pick out party games." She runs a hand through her hair and smiles. "When are these guests getting here?"  
"Just around-" The doorbell rings.  
"Now?" Teppei grins. Satsuki takes it upon herself to open the door for the guests and a studious looking emerald eyes girl is waiting at the door.  
"Hello, I am Midorima Shintarou. Is this the Kiyoshi residence?" She speaks slowly but clearly, pronouncing each word properly.  
"Yes, I'm Kiyoshi Satsuki. Are your parents with you?"  
"They have to go to work. They just dropped me off." Midorima turns and waves to the black Mercedes out on the road and it does a quick u-turn and leaves. "They will return for me when I call."  
"Oh, um, come in. Tetsu! Dai! Come meet a neighbor!" Satsuki shuts the door behind the green-haired girl and her children come running.  
"Shina!" Kazunari is the first to greet the girl.  
"That's a silly nickname, you baka." She hisses, then turns to Tetsu and Dai. "Please, call me Shintarou."  
"I'm Tetsuya, pleased to meet you Shintarou-san."  
"Daiki. You can call me Dai." Daiki coolly appraises Midorima. The four children stand awkwardly until Satsuki claps.  
"Well! We have pizza and games, so go on! Have fun." The doorbell rings again. 

A wildly red haired boy is accompanied by a smiling young man.  
"Hello! I'm Hajime Kazuma, and this is Kagami Taiga." The little boy holds up a football.  
"Are there any boys to play with here?"  
"I do have a little boy, go in and meet him!" Satsuki bends out of the way as Taiga runs past her and Kazuma smiles.  
"Sorry. He's a bundle of energy."  
"Are you his Dad?" Satsuki smiles, even if the man is a little too young for children.  
"No, no. Family friend. His mother died when he was a baby and his father is away on business a lot. I'm a baker so my hours are better than anyone else he knew, so I take care of Taiga." He lifts a plate. "But I make the best cupcakes so Taiga doesn't complain."

The cute little blonde holding hands with a short, chubby violet haired boy is the most adorable Satsuki has ever seen. In fact, he's really, really familiar.  
"I know what you're thinking. And yes, you've seen Ry before. He was the Gerber baby for all those billboards!" A busy looking blonde woman taps away at her Blackberry. "Kise Mitsuki. You can call me Mitsy, and this is my baby Ryouta and my nephew Murisakibara Atsushi."  
"Oh, lovely. Come on in!" Satsuki steps back. "Call me 'Suki. Is your nephew just visiting?"  
"No. He lives with me. His parents died."  
"Oh."  
"Do you mind if I take pictures? Ry needs some for his portfolio. Atsushi! Don't eat that."  
Satsuki turns to find Atsushi seconds away fr eating one of her house plants.  
"Pictures are fine." She answers with a worried grin. 

The parents are holed up in the kitchen listening for screams and crying but currently enjoying glasses of wine. There is loud bubbly music from the Wii and Mitsy sips from her glass.  
"'Suki, have you ever thought of putting the children into modeling? I know a wonderful agency."  
"I've never thought of it, why? Do you think they'd be popular?" Satsuki doubts she would ever get into the modeling circuit.  
"Probably. They're unusual. Tetsuya's blue eyes are amazing and Dai-chan's don't even match her complexion. She's going to be beautiful." Mitsy sighs as she dreams of contracts and runways but Takao hurries into the room.  
"Shina's thirsty. Do you have any water?" She waits patiently for her Mom to get her a glass and fills it from the sink before hurrying back to the living room.  
"Why is my daughter a little slave?" Hyuuga laughs.  
"She'll grow out of it. Shina's just enjoying her 'need to please' phase."  
"Yeah, but when's Shina going to grow out of her attention loving stage? Her parents are always busy. Isn't that bad for a kid?" Teppei wonders aloud and suddenly the entire troop of children come running through the kitchen. Taiga and Dai are leading the pack and Dai throws the back door open.  
"Woah, what's going on here?" Satsuki asks but everyone had already rushed outside. She feels a tug in her dress-apparently someone's still here.  
"What happened, Momo-chan, is that Taiga-kun said he's better than Dai-san because he's a boy. She's going to prove him wrong." Tetsu's eyes glow with happiness and Satsuki squeezes his shoulder.  
"Well, we'd better make sure no one gets hurt." She leads him out side and everyone follows. Taiga is busy throwing as hard as he can to Dai's waiting hands and her eyes darken in concentration. The ball hits her soft hands with a slap but she doesn't flinch.  
"Can I please put her in girls football? That had to sting and she took it like a champ." Teppei whispers past Satsuki's ear. Satsuki grins as Dai whips the ball back at Taiga.  
"If she wants to, sure."  
"Go Dai-san!" Tetsu jumps below Satsuki and she's surprised at his outburst but it sparks the rest of children to start cheering too. They quickly split in Team Dai: Tetsu and Shina verses Team Taiga: Kazunari, Ry, and Atsushi. The uneven split is obvious as the quieter two try to cheer over the enthusiastic Kazu and Ryouta, even tiny Atsushi is yelling around the chips in his mouth. Even over the roar of spectators, Satsuki hears the doorbell.  
She opens the door to a boy just as small as Tetsuya with bright red hair and an older blonde woman, she smiles.  
"Hi, are you here for the party?"  
"Yes." The little boy speaks and his ruby eyes startle Satsuki for a second. "I am Akashi Seijuurou. This is my current nanny, Ms. Catherine."  
"Pleased to meet you." Ms. Catherine has a British accent and she smiles kindly. She waves to the car in the driveway-a shined black Rolls Royce.  
"Please, come in. Everyone's in the backyard." Satsuki steps out of the way. 

With the appearance of the tiny Seijuurou, the groups hierarchy becomes painfully obvious. He is first, Shina is second, and Atsushi and Kazu are tied for third as their respective servants. Taiga and Dai are still trying to one-up each other but Seijuurou squints at them.  
"Stop. You're too evenly matched. We could be here all day." Seijuurou holds Taiga with his gaze and Taiga holds the ball when he catches it-fourth in line. Dai gets a once over and a nod-Satsuki is surprised at Dai's easy role as the new fifth. Ryouta immediately jumps to Seijuurou and his role is apparent-last.  
"Seiju, you missed all the fun games!"  
"I don't care for games." Seiju is cold but he turns and immediately sees Tetsuya. "Hello."  
"Hello." Tetsu's blue eyes widen but he doesn't show any surprise at being noticed so easily.  
"So, lets go look at those rooms!" Teppei claps his hands together and herds everyone back inside. He makes sure all the wine glasses are in the sink before pulling Dai and Tetsu to each of his sides. "Well, Dai, Tetsu, and I worked really hard on their bedrooms. It was to make them feel comfortable and for us to bond. In case you're wondering, Satsuki made us sandwiches and we all bonded with that." He grins but no one laughs at his bad joke. Satsuki raises an eyebrow.  
"Anyways. Lets get to it! Upstairs." Teppei waves them forward. Dai's the first up the stairs and throws her door open.  
"This is mine!" She beans and the adults make appreciative noises.  
"Wow. This is cool!" Taiga runs a hand over her wall. "I don't care if you're a girl, we can be best friends!"  
"...Okay." Dai shrugs but Satsuki can see her inner glowing smile. Tetsu is quieter about his room, but the compliments are greater.  
"This is impressive. I like it." Seiju nods and looks up at the giant octopus on the wall. Tetsu allows a smile smile and his cheeks redden slightly. 

After everyone's gone, from Atsushi stuffing his pockets with candy, Mitsy checking her camera roll, and Ry's enthusiastic waving to Seiju and Ms. Catherine's extravagant but detached, departure in their Rolls, Tetsu is visibly drained. Teppei tucks him into bed and cons Dai into hers by promising she can play her game tomorrow for an extra hour. Satsuki is finishing the last of the wine when he returns back to the kitchen.  
"Oh my god, are our kids going to be okay?"  
"They're a colorful bunch. But they're good people. I think they'll like it here." Teppei smiles as he tries to reassure her and steals a sip from her glass.  
"I hope so. But if we were going to put Dai into football, what would we put Tetsu in?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already missed my promised post date. -.- Forgive me! Hopefully this came out right. :)


	13. Cut It Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Satsuki helps Dai gets a hair cut. Teppei gets a reality check from his seven year old. (Tetsu is assertive.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I've updated! Thank you to all the readers, I appreciate it. :)

Satsuki wakes up with strands of her pink hair in her mouth. She pulls them out with a grumble and tries to tuck the strays back into her thick braid.  
"Hhhnnnggg..." Satsuki rolls over and Teppei shifts beside her.  
"Hhhmmm?" Teppei draws her in closer and she goes back to sleep. What seems like a few minutes later, Satsuki feels the need to open her eyes. When she does, she almost screams.  
"Oh! Tetsu, you frightened me!" Satsuki sits up, her heart racing, and Tetsu's translucent eyes follow her.  
"I'm sorry, Momo-chan. I didn't mean to startle you." Tetsu pauses. "I woke you because I was hungry."  
"Oh! I'm so sorry, Tetsu. I'll get breakfast. Could you wake Teppei?" Satsuki rises from the bed and heads for the en suite. She turns in time to see Tersu staring at Teppei until he jolts himself out of sleep.  
"Tetsu!" He yells and Satsuki laughs. 

Satsuki's braid is even messier than normal, the flyaways making a halo around her head in the sunlight streaming through the kitchen window. Tetsu is at the counter with a glass of milk and Teppei is searching the fridge for bacon. Satsuki is flipping pancakes at the stove but turns she she hears light footsteps.  
"Good morning, Dai-san." Tetsu gives a polite nod before returning to his milk. Dai scowls but takes the seat beside him and Teppei pours her a glass of milk.  
"Hey, bed head!" Teppei smiles at Dai's wild navy hair.  
"It's not my fault. It's too long." Dai angrily tugs on a strand. She makes a face then drinks her milk.  
"Dai-san, your hair is very pretty. Maybe if you braided it like Momo-chan it wouldn't be so bad." Tetsu's helpful voice rings out.  
"No, Tetsu. Some people don't like long hair. We have to respect that." Teppei gently reminds and returns to the fridge. Satsuki nods from the stove and faintly remembers her meeting with Dai at the orphanage.  
"Actually, I'm not busy today... Dai, would you just like to get your hair cut?"  
"What? Yes! This isn't a joke, right?" Dai's emotions cycle through confusion, elation, and desolation.  
"No! Why would I joke? You told me you never liked it." Satsuki smiles over the pancakes.  
"Yes! Can we go now?" Dai hops off her chair.  
"Hold on, we have to eat breakfast first." Teppei holds up the bacon.  
"Okay. Fine. Be quick!" Dai is the happiest they've seen her since the adoption. 

"Welcome to Fox Michell's. How can we-oh! 'Suki!" The blonde receptionist jumps to hug her old friend. "How are you? Is this the little girl? Aren't you adorable?"  
"I'm good, Reese. How are you? And yes, this is my daughter, Dai." Satsuki smiles proudly and Dai half hides. Reese ducks down.  
"I'm great! Hi, Dai! I'm Reese, Satsuki and I uses to go to high school together." Reese's big brown eyes twinkle and Dai gives a small wave. Reese stands.  
"So, what is it today? Ends clipped? Blow dry?"  
"Actually, I just came for Dai." Satsuki rests her head on Dai's head.  
"Oh! Do you want curls, honey? Or straightened? I'll call a stylist!" Reese returns to her desk and pages someone. "I called Kyo, she's a sweetheart."  
"Thank you, Reese." Satsuki sits in one of the waiting chairs and Dai tugs on her hand.  
"I just want to cut all of my hair off. Will the lady know?"  
"You have to tell her, then she'll know."  
"What is she's not nice?"  
"I'm sure she is, Dai. Calm down." Satsuki smiles. A violet haired pixie comes around the corner. Her hair hangs down to her waist is a shiny curtain and she smiles.  
"Hi! I'm Kyo, you must be Satsuki and Dai." The tiny woman shakes both of their hands. "Dai, what did you want me to do with your hair? It's so beautiful."  
"Um..." Dai swallows nervously. "I'd like it cut, please." It's the most polite Satsuki has ever heard her be.  
"Really, sweetheart? You don't have to listen to Mommy here, we can just straighten it. Or curl it. You'll be so pretty!" Kyo flips her hair over one shoulder.  
"I just want it cut. Momo-chan never told me I had to do anything."  
"Okay, honey. How much? An inch? Two?"  
"How much is an inch?" Dai squints up at Kyo.  
"Hmm... This much." Kyo lifts her hand, thumb and pointer fivers apart.  
"Okay. I need this many inches!" Dai holds from the ends of her hair to the nape of her neck.  
"No, honey! I think you just want at most 4 inches." Kyo's smiles starts looking forced.  
"No. I want it all gone!" Dai angrily flips her hair.  
"Satsuki? If you could explain to-" Kyo turns to her.  
"Actually, Kyo, it's not my hair. Dai wants it cut. So I think we should just let it get cut." Satsuki shrugs and winks at Dai. Kyo looks stunned for a minute.  
"I... This..." Her perfectly made-up face twists. "I won't cut her hair!"  
"Then I'll do it!" Reese stands at the desk. "Kyo, you can cover here for me. I'll take your chair." She glares at Kyo as she passes and gently takes Dai's shoulder. "Come on, Dai."

"Oh my god, Reese, I don't want to get you fired!" Satsuki whisper-shouts in the salon.  
"Nah. It's fine. Dai, can you get in this chair honey?" Reese searches the drawers as Dai hops up. "Damn. I've never been in the salon, where are the scissors?"  
"Reese, is this okay? And you've never been back here? You graduated top of your class!" Satsuki nervously watches Kyo march around talking to people and pointing.  
"Found them!" Reese hoists the scissors. "And I know, but Mitchell's doesn't believe in new stylists. Everyone here is almost 40, Kyo is 45 and they flew her in from America." She raises Dai's chair and spins it to face her. "Alright, honey, do you trust me?"  
"I... Yes, thank you." Dai nods.  
"Alright. Watch this, 'Suki." Reese swings the scissors on her fingers and snips at the air. "You're safe with me, honey!" Reese makes a face in the mirror and Dai giggles in her chair but Satsuki warily watches Kyo slink around the salon until her face brightens and she races towards a man.  
"Reese, who's the man with the shaved head and orange puffy vest?" Satsuki doesn't like how much Kyo is pointing towards them.  
"Mr. Georgie? My boss." Reese is cutting sheets of Dai's hair away.  
"Um. I think Kyo told on us."  
"Sh-Crap. I better finish fast!" Reese switches to quick snips by Dai's ears and feathered cuts around her head while Kyo's sly smile and Mr. Georgie's puffy vest stalks towards them.  
"A-hem." Mr. Georgie stops by the chair with a click of his leather shoes. "Miss Rice-"  
"Reese. It's Reese!" Dai yells from her chair and Satsuki raises a single finger to her lips. Mr. Georgie doesn't spare either of them a glance.  
"Miss Reese, Kyo tells me you've taken her chair?"  
"Obviously. But she wasn't listening to the customer. And I can do it, so I did." Reese steps away from the chair and Kyo looks like she's about to faint. The floor around the chair is littered with chucks of Daiki's navy locks, but Dai is beaming in the chair, her hair clipped so close to her head at the nape of her neck to length as it crawled over her head into a messy faux hawk.  
"I love it! I love it! Thank you!" Dai hops from the chair before Reese can lower it and hugs her legs. "Thank you! You're better than the mean pixie for sure."  
"The mean pixie?!" Kyo sputters. "Mr. Georgie, say something!"  
"Miss Reese..." Mr. Georgie apraises her and Dai. "Very well done. Excellent, in fact. Where were you trained again?"  
"I... Thank you! I went to the local university." Reese blushes and sets the scissors on the counter.  
"Really? So you're naturally talented. We must talk. Miss Kyo, grab a broom and clean up Reese's station." Mr. Georgie smiles and Reese flushes. Kyo fumes.  
"Thank you, Reese. How much was the cut?" Satsuki wants to get out of the salon before Kyo explodes. Reese opens her mouth.  
"Nonsense, it's on the house Miss..." Mr. Georgie interrupts.  
"Satsuki Kiyoshi. And this is Daiki."  
"Miss Satsuki and Miss Daiki, it's on the house."  
"Oh! Thank you, Mr. Georgie." Satsuki reaches for Dai's hand. "Thank Mr. Georgie, Dai." Satsuki says and Dai nods shyly.  
"Please, call me Holden. And I should thank you, I've been misusing Reese's talents." Holden smiles and looks over at Kyo. "Miss Kyo, where is the broom? Chop-chop!"  
"Ah, thank you Holden. Come on, Dai." Satsuki pulls Dai beside her as Holden leads Reese away and Kyo actually goes for the broom. Once outside Satsuki releases a tense breath and smiles.  
"Wow! Dai, you look adorable. Do you like it?"  
"I do. Thank you Momo-chan. I've always wanted short hair." Dai keeps touching her own head and she smiles with pure joy.  
"I makes me happy to see you happy, Dai. It's my job." Satsuki finishes and is gifted with an honest smile. It's bright and with the new openness of Dai's face after being freed from her heavy hair, Satsuki thinks she can do this. "Hey, do you want to get some ice cream?"

Back at home, Teppei is trying to not feel like a scolded child.  
"Teppei-kin, do you understand?" Tetsu has his ghost blue eyes fixed on him.  
"I do. But you're sure about this, Tetsu? It could be really fun and-"  
"Teppei-kun, cut it out!" It's the most immature thing Tetsu has ever said and they both sit in silence for a moment. Tetsu finally clears his throat and continues. "I would rather enjoy a book inside than attempt a sport as physical as football. I am far too slight to withstand any sort of impact. While Dai-san enjoys sports, and I applaud her, I am not the same."  
"Okay. I get it, no football. But they have soccer. Or baseball! No contact!" Teppei eagerly offers.  
"Teppei-kun... I am too weak to run for an entire soccer game. And I feel the sore arms and back from swinging a bat would be far too much to bear. The contact issue is not the problem, it is merely a factor in my uninterst. Some people simply so not enjoy sports, Teppei-kun. And I am quite happy to cheer Dai-san on from the stands. I would be proud to have such an athletic sister." Tetsu blinks once. "Do you understand, Teppei-kun?"  
"I do." Teppei sighs. "You're far too mature for your age, Tetsu. It's to be respected, so I will leave you to your books." Teppei stretches before sinking back into the couch and Tetsu tilts his head slightly.  
"Teppei-kun, I'm sorry to have disappointed you."  
"No! No! Tetsu, you're a wonderful son. The sports don't matter, you're intelligent and kind and it's more than enough." Teppei gives a smile and inputs all of the love and acceptance he truly feels into it.  
"Then why would you be so interested in my involvement in a sport?"  
"It's the team, Tetsu. The friendships, the teamwork, the experience. I had a wonderful time in basketball and I had never considered it before I hit my growth spurt and the coach drafted me the first day of gym class. I only played baseball..." Teppei smiles fondly as he remember the coach's excitement. "He asked if I was really in highschool. Mr. Aida was a great coach though." He finishes with a chuckle. Tetsu watches him carefully and sets down his current book (Aesop's Fables).  
"Teppei-kun... I would like to try your sport. Your expertise would be greatly appreciated if I was to attempt involvement." Tetsu hesitates every few words and when he finishes his normally pale face is flushed with nerves.  
"Really, Tetsu? Not for me, right? Because you want to?" Teppei has to hold himself back from making any motion that would force Tetsu into a decision.  
"I believe I would like to try, we can decide if I should join a team after." Tetsu gives a tiny smile at Teppei's excitement and the garage door opens.  
"Hey, we're home!" Satsuki's voice rings out and Dai's tiny footsteps can be heard.  
"Look! Look, it's all gone!" Dai runs into the living room and excitedly shakes her head. "All gone!" She giggles and it's actually the most childlike Teppei has ever seem her. Tetsu is giving a real smile.  
"Dai-san, you still look very nice. And happier since you enjoy it."  
"Thank you, Tetsu." It's the first time Dai has called him by his name and she suppresses her shock. "What did you do all morning?" She plunks down and starts up the PS3.  
"Well, Tetsu has agreed to try a sport!" Teppei announces and Satsuki sticks her head into the room.  
"Dai, wash your hands, we just got home. And which one, Tetsu?" She looks over to him.  
"I have agreed to try Teppei-kun's basketball."  
"Oh, exciting!" Satsuki smiles at Teppei as Sai returns to the room and she proudly notes these people are her family. "I'll get lunch started."


End file.
